I'm Not The Pup I Used To Be
by SwarmX
Summary: Shocked by a devastating discovery made during a mission, Chase and the Paw Patrol are sent into a state of distress. Determined to restore the team back to its original self, Marshall, with the help of an old friend, devotes all his time and effort into achieving just that. However, as time passes to no avail, they begin to wonder whether or not this pursuit was even worth it.
1. Prologue

**A/N:**

 **Hello everybody, I'm back. And no, this time it is not a short story. I have been working on this for a while now and the plot is going exceptionally well. Originally, I wanted to finish the entire story and then upload chapters consistently and frequently. However, I've now realized that would take a very long time, too long to keep people waiting. Plus, I couldn't help myself from uploading ;)**

 ***IMPORTANT* (Please read this if anything)**

 **Due to the plot in this story, there are a considerable amount of _flashbacks_. I will try my absolute best to make it as comprehensible as possible so that you can enjoy the plot, since the flashbacks are VERY important to the story. I dislike putting headers that say the time, for example _"1 Year Ago"_ etc., but I might have to use them at some point just to avoid confusion (like in the Prologue...). Ideally, I would use italics to indicate flashbacks, but then it might get confusing whether the section is someones inner thoughts, a POV, a flashback, etc. Oh well, I'll try my best for you guys. :)**

 **Please let me know if something is confusing, as I will do everything I can to make this story understandable. Or if you have a suggestion as to what to do, I'd love to hear it! Thank you :)**

 **ONE LAST THING (I promise), the first part of the story _WILL_ be slightly confusing at first. However everything will quickly piece together after a few chapters, as long as you're following along carefully.**

 **Anyways, without further ado, I present my third story: _I'm Not The Pup I Used To Be._**

* * *

 **PROLOGUE**

 **Chase's POV**

 **August 25th - Three Years Ago**

 **A Few Weeks After _The Incident_**

The rain poured down hard on Adventure Bay. It was always a sad day for the Paw Patrol whenever it rained. Rain meant staying inside, which meant they couldn't play any sports, go to the beach, or even just enjoy the summer sun. The only exceptions were missions.

However, the poor weather was the least of the pups' concerns at the moment. In fact, throughout the past few weeks, they hadn't enjoyed _anything,_ let alone the sun. One particular pup was considerably worse than the rest. Rather than hiding from the rain inside the Lookout with Ryder and all of the other pups, the german shepherd had locked himself inside of his pup house, alone. There, all the police pup could do was wistfully sigh and ponder about recent events, trying his best to hold back the tears.

 _I used to live the most perfect life._

 _I had my dream job. I had friends and an owner who never failed to put a smile on my face. I had a brother, who was kind, caring, smart... and I just.. I just loved him to the core. We had such a strong connection._

 _My life had meaning, a purposeful meaning; it was the embodiment of pure happiness. It was the kind of life that some people could only dream of living one day._

 _And then, just like that… it was all gone. Within the blink of an eye, my whole life was… just swallowed down the drain… so suddenly.. so violently..._

 _I never quite found the words to describe how I felt that day, July 30th. It sparked something inside of me. Something I had never truly felt before. Something I never would have possessed before that day. I felt nothing but… just pure rage… and sadness, all mixed into one._

The german shepherd bellowed a deep growl as he started to revisit the incident in his mind, letting the emotions fall upon him all over again. He pounded his mattress in frustration as he lay in bed, only thinking of things that caused him despair. The police pup took a deep breath, slowly yet forcefully rubbing his face with his paws in an attempt to calm himself down, maintaining the cold, impassive look that was almost permanently locked onto his face for the past month.

Chase turned towards the mirror that was sitting on his shelf as raindrops continued to patter down on his pup house, allowing the depressing mood to remain constant. All that glared back at him was an evidently broken german shepherd pup; a shadow of his former self.

 _I'm not the pup I used to be._

 _I think people can see it on my face… I know people can see it on my face._

 _I'd be lying if I said it's what I wanted. I never wanted to change... I never wanted to lose everything that I once had. In fact.. what I once had, is all that I could ever ask for at this moment…_

 _I sometimes imagine that July 30th never actually happened, that it was all just a dream. Sometimes I imagine that everything I lost would just come back one day, even if it were only for a day._

 _All I want is just something—anything—that would bring peace and justice back into my life. Just ONE thing._

 _If only it were possible… if only..._

* * *

 **Heh, yeah sorry it's only a prologue. In fact, I think there's more of me blabbing on than actual story... whoops. That's all I can really share at the moment. I will begin posting more chapters once I get to a certain point in writing the story. Although I hate to say it, that might take a little while. Nevertheless, I will work hard to get these chapters out ASAP. If you have any questions, feel free to ask because I would love to clear up any confusion. Same thing goes with reviews or suggestions (although I'm far into the story, I appreciate and still may consider all suggestions), none go unread :). Thank you so much for reading, there's lots more to come! Until next time,**

 **~SwarmX**


	2. A Familiar Face

**A/N:**

 **Hello again! Thankfully, I can say that I have progressed enough on this story for me to post the first chapter! And don't worry, it will be more than 1000 words this time ;)**

 ***Also a side note, I thought I should share that this fan fiction is _NOT RELATED TO MY OTHER ONES._ That means that this plot is entirely fresh, and previous events that happened in Terror's Peak, A Night to Remember, and Mission Mistletoe are not continuing on into this one.***

 **Anyways... this chapter** **introduces the two OC's that are in this story. Normally I don't like OC's in stories and haven't typically used them, however, for this story it was kind of required. As a compromise, I've tried to make these character's as little "OC" as possible... if that makes sense. The first one is** _Sylvia_ **, which I guess isn't really an OC since she was in one episode, but in this story she plays a much different and bigger role than simply a herding pup, which you will soon discover. The second one is a character that had appeared in numerous Fan-Fictions already, and that's Chase's brother,** _Swift_ **. He's gone through many different names in each fanfic, however, this was my favourite choice, hence why I am reusing it. _(All credit goes to the author who originally chose the name 'Swift', not entirely sure who it was but I'm not trying to take credit for the name)._**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoy the first chapter! :)**

 ****Review Responses will be featured at the bottom.**

* * *

 **Present Day**

It was late one evening, on a cool summer night. The sound of the calm ocean waves crashing along the shore and rocks in the bay was the solitary source of noise throughout the entire city. It was peaceful, and a lot more quiet than Adventure Bay normally was. The street lights faintly lit up each block, only giving view to the grass and leaves blowing gently in the wind. There was about as much action as there is in a ghost town; not a single person was stirring at this hour. Almost everybody was fast asleep in their homes, including the Paw Patrol.

The Lookout matched the status of the city. The tower stood intimidatingly tall but was dark and silent, not even Rubble could be heard snoring during this particular night. Nevertheless, Ryder and each of the pups were deep within their dreams, resting up after another long and hard day's work. All but one pup, in fact.

The exhausted dalmatian pup was slouched up in his bed, as the dim light from his laptop illuminated the firetruck-red interior of his pup house. His distinct, dark bags seemed to get bigger by the minute while his glossy eyes reflected the images that filled his computer screen. Marshall carefully analyzed each photo, mugshots to be precise, and grudgingly sighed each time he clicked over to the next page.

Three years. For three years Marshall had been doing this; cycling through images of these ungodly criminals every single night. It was the anniversary of that fateful day, July 30th, where Adventure Bay, and specifically the Paw Patrol, had been changed forever. Ever since that day Marshall had been searching. Searching for the man responsible for the horrific crime that was committed; the crime that took the joy out of what the Paw Patrol loved doing most: helping the citizens of Adventure Bay.

During that time, three years ago, Sylvia had given Marshall access to the felon database, a computer program that contains mugshots of every criminal from the past few decades that are within the district. Chase's old herding rival worked as a police dog for the city of Foggy Bottom back then and has held that position for a very long time. The female german shepherd was gravely affected by the incident as well and wanted to do everything she could to help, hence why Marshall was granted permission to seek through the pictures of these criminals to find this illusive, sick man.

Unfortunately, three years had slowly and painfully gone by to no avail. Not a single lead had been found. Most people had given up after a month. But here Marshall was, three years after the tragic event, determined to find the guy who ruined his, the pups, and Ryder's life. Letting him run free was simply not an option. Marshall couldn't let justice go unserved. And as tired as he was of doing it, to this day he still was looking for this menacing guy.

* * *

 **July 30th - Three Years Earlier**

Chase laid in his bed, half under the covers as he slowly began to wake himself up for the day. He was always the first one to be up and at em' in the morning, but this particular day was special. The Paw Patrol was having a beach day and Chase, being his professional self, decided to wake up early to help Ryder prepare. The german shepherd stretched out his limbs and creaked open his door, allowing the golden rays of sun to flow into his pup house and through his fur. He closed his eyes as he embraced the soothing warmth of the hot summer morning.

Subsequently, Chase was startled and interrupted by the obnoxious ringtone of his pup tag. He and the other pups slowly grew a strong, communal hatred for that ringtone ever since they joined the Paw Patrol. It was so loud, almost ear piercing due to their strong sense of hearing, and seemed to always sound in the most unexpected circumstances. At the same time, however, they all knew it was for a good reason; the main purpose of their pup tags was so they could respond quickly for missions, which meant that the ringtone had to be loud and alerting. Though, that didn't stop most of them from disliking it.

Despite the initial scare, a smile grew on the police pup's face as he knew exactly who it was. All the other pups were still asleep so it couldn't be them, and whenever Ryder called for missions, the pup tags were programmed to answer automatically. In addition, apart from the pups and Ryder, only one other person had Chase's number. After a simple process of elimination, there was only one other pup it could be.

"Hey Swift!" Chase eagerly answered his pup tag.

Swift was Chase's older brother. The two had shared an extremely close bond ever since they were born. They played together, ate together, slept together, and loved horsing around with each other. Unfortunately, their parents passed about six months after Chase was born and the two pups were put into a shelter where they were adopted by different owners. Swift was taken into the home of a loving family about an hour north of Adventure Bay, while Chase was adopted by Ryder and thus the Paw Patrol was born. Despite the distance, the two brothers had managed to keep in touch. They called each other at least once or twice a month and Chase had even visited Swift once since their separation. However, a phone call was long overdue and both german shepherds were happy to finally be in contact with each other again.

"Sooo, what's my _baby_ brother been up too lately?" Swift teased Chase through the phone.

"For the record, I'm only two years younger than you," Chase playfully snapped back. "Besides, I'm a growing pup."

"Mhmm, whatever you say, shorty," Swift chuckled. "So what's new?"

Chase rolled his eyes at his brother's sarcasm but continued the conversation onward, "Just the occasional mission here and there, otherwise I just hang out with all of the pups and Ryder. I really enjoy it here, both my job and my friends."

"Oh yeah! How are the rest of the guys doing down there?" Swift inquired. "I wish I could finally meet them someday!"

"Everyone's doing great!" informed Chase.

"Ryder's a genius as always, Marshall is consistent with his clumsiness, the rest of the guys have all been well, and Skye… she's just so perfect!—

"I mean... she's been _doing_ perfect..." Chase sighed. He always got carried away with himself whenever he thought about the cute, little cockapoo he'd been crushing on ever since she joined the Paw Patrol.

"Oooh! Chase has a girlfriend!" Swift hooted through the phone. "So, tell me more about this, ' _Skye'_."

"WHAT!? She's not my girlfriend! We're just... friends!" Chase denied his brother's claims.

"Oh, my bad, let me rephrase," Swift smirked as he corrected himself, "Chase has a crush on his friend that happens to be a girl!"

"No! I swear I don't!" Chase lied, getting extremely defensive.

"Awww, my little brother is in love!" Swift continued to poke fun at Chase. "Tell her how you feel Chase!"

"I don't like her!" Chase insisted, "Not in that way…"

"I can sense you blushing through the phone dude," Swift laughed and continued harassing his brother. "That's so cute! Let me know how your first date goes!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Chase sighed, realizing he wasn't going to be able to convince his brother otherwise. Nevertheless, he decided to change the subject. "So when's the next time we can see each other? I miss you… even though you're a pain in the ass," the shepherd pup chuckled.

"Back at you," Swift winked, despite his brother not being able to see, "and whenever you want! I'm almost always free."

"How about today?!" exclaimed Chase. "We are having a beach day down at the bay! It would be so much fun if you could come!"

"Sounds like fun!" Swift grinned, "Plus, it would give me some time to hook you and your _special girl_ up. What better place to fall in love than the beach, am I right?"

"On second thought, maybe you should stay home," Chase advised, somewhat sarcastically.

"Oh, I'm only joking… partially…" Swift said under his breath. "So, you're sure Ryder and the pups would be fine with me crashing the party?"

Chase rolled his eyes and ignored his brother's initial comment, instead ensuring Swift that his arrival would be completely fine with the others, "Yeah don't worry about it! They all have been dying to meet you."

"Well in that case, I'll see you this afternoon little bro," affirmed Swift.

"See you later Swift, I love you," Chase said his goodbye.

"Love you too, Chase," Swift replied.

With that, the two german shepherds hung up and continued their morning routines, both extremely excited for the fun day that was to follow.

* * *

 **Present Day**

The fire-fighting pup clicked to the next page, page one thousand two-hundred seven to be exact. He precisely scanned each row of portraits, hoping to find a mugshot that matched the culprit. The dalmatian pup had saved a picture of this hated man in one of his dresser drawers. It was a snapshot of him in court from three years ago, back when they nearly had the man in their paws. In all honesty, Marshall didn't even need that picture. There were a few encounters between the dally and this horrid man back around the time when the incident initially happened, and the pup would never, ever, forget that cold, dark, unforgiving face of his.

As he was about to click 'next,' Marshall paused and looked again at one of the rows. Suddenly, his groggy facial expression shifted and his eyes were nearly popping out of their sockets. The pup sat up straight and took another closer look at this photograph.

Seventh row, third column. Right there. That was him.

All that Marshall needed to see was the face. That scarring face. The dally recalled the last day he ever saw the man before he disappeared; his soul-piercing eyes displaying the lack of remorse for the crime he committed. That was exactly what Marshall was looking at right now. There was no doubt about it. This was the man that had killed the spirit of the Paw Patrol three years ago.

In a state of complete shock and utter disbelief, Marshall scrambled to get a full screen image of the mugshot. He despised seeing the ugly, guilty face of this man fill the screen of his laptop. Oh, how badly the dally wanted to get revenge for the man's sinister actions. So much fury was built up inside of him, he could punch a hole right through the laptop screen. However, there was no time for foolish actions such as that at the moment.

Marshall ripped open his dresser drawer and grabbed the three year old photo, comparing it to the image on his screen. It was nearly a perfect match. Marshall took a screenshot of the image and saved it onto his computer.

 _Fritz Blandowski_ , Marshall read the name coinciding with the mugshot. This definitely wasn't the name that Marshall had remembered from all those years ago, however he quickly brushed that detail aside.

 _Asshole must've changed his name to remain hidden_ , he smirked, _Smart, but not smart enough_.

Subsequently, Marshall tapped his pup tag and called Sylvia.

Sure, the Paw Patrol was responsible for rescuing and crime-fighting, but Sylvia's advantage was that she worked for the law. She had the capability and connections to get this man in legal trouble, and Marshall wanted him to be locked up for eternity. Besides, dropping a huge bomb shell like this on the Paw Patrol would be too sudden, especially after all the hurt and grief it had caused them. It only make sense to contact Sylvia first.

After a few attempts to call the female german shepherd, she finally picked up and greeted Marshall in a tired and aggravated tone.

"Marshall?" she groaned, "What on earth could you possibly want? It's two in the morning for pup's sake!"

"Sorry Sylvia, but this is extremely important." the dally apologized. "You'll understand better tomorrow morning. Just meet me at the coffee shop that's down the street from your station in Foggy Bottom at around ten."

"Couldn't you have called me tomorr—" she paused, "...ughhh forget it. Yeah, I guess I'll be there."

"Thanks so much Syl! Trust me, this is _huge_!" Marshall reiterated. "I'll see you tomorrow, good night!"

The female german shepherd responded by simply hanging up, still slightly bitter that she was awoken from her beauty sleep. Marshall sort of brushed her sourness aside and powered off his laptop, leaving his room as dark as the outside. He took off his collar and tossed it onto his desk as he got nice and cozy under the covers of his soft bed.

For years Marshall had undergone sleepless nights, thinking about what happened on July 30th. He was met with tears, aggression, nightmares, and fantasies of how much better life could have been had that day not gone so horribly wrong.

This night, however, the dally was able to close his eyes and sleep peacefully. Because after three years of searching, three years of lost hope, and three years of mourning, Marshall had finally found the man responsible.

And this time, he wasn't going to make it out alive.

* * *

 **And so, the plot thickens already! What could this incident possibly be? How bad must it have been for Marshall to endure such hatred for the man responsible? Well, I know the answers to these questions. Maybe you will too in the near future ;)**

 **Review Responses:**

 **JoshDD:** Like I said in my PM, I'm glad to hear that this first part succeeded in being open-ended. I like stories that leave the reader thinking of what could possibly happen, and wanted to achieve that. As for Chase's situation, you'll just have to wait patiently ;) Glad you're enjoying it!

 **Kuro890:** Nothing like a good old mystery to really get the mind going :) Hope you enjoy reading!

 **Taurusology:** I'm trying my hardest to make it the best it can be, and I'm extremely glad that you've liked it so far :)

 **VenusDemilo-Shirolover2:** As a huge Chase fan myself, I think you're going to really enjoy this story ;) As for the incident... you'll soon find out about that. Stay alert!

 **Guest:** I appreciate the suggestion, however that will most likely not fit in with the story line I've created. Don't worry though! As in most of my fan fictions (more like all of them), there will be Chase X Skye in this one, so you can look forward to that! :)

 **All in all, thank you guys so much for the kind, positive reviews. They really mean the world to me. Stay tuned because things are only going uphill from here ;) Until next time,**

 **~SwarmX**


	3. Fond Memories

**A/N:**

 **I'm so sorry for my inactivity guys. I'm always making these excuses but I shouldn't be, I've just gotten lazy over the past month. It's not fair to you guys. I know how much I hate waiting forever for chapters to be posted, and I'm being a hypocrite. I'll try my best to prevent this from happening again. Thank you all for your continued support 3 Enjoy :)**

 **Also, since it's been a while, it may be a good idea to refresh your memory with Chapter 1 again, just to avoid confusion. Just a friendly reminder :)**

 ***Didn't reply to reviews simply because I wanted to get this out ASAP. I will get to replying to them in the near future.**

* * *

It was a quarter past nine in the morning. The pups had been up for a couple hours now, as Chase woke them up nice and early for their daily training. It was business as usual: sprints, hurdles, obstacles, and even yoga. Chase claimed that yoga was required for their training routine, but the other's had their doubts. Although most of the pups enjoyed yoga, seeing as it was nice and relaxing, they assumed that Chase makes them do it every morning because _he_ likes it. However, the german shepherd would never admit to something like that, at least not with that strong, brave police pup reputation of his.

Regardless, the pups liked seeing the soft, tender side of Chase. It completely contrasted the professional Chase that they used to see during missions and the dispirited Chase that was almost always present nowadays.

After what happened three years ago, the Paw Patrol was put on hold. For a while, they were broken to say the least; no missions, no motivation, not even any happiness. It took them more than half a year to get back into their everyday missions and rescues.

Unfortunately, Chase never did find his way back into the team. Ryder and the pups would always be the german shepherd pup's family and he would never, _ever_ leave them, however he completely lost interest in his job after that fateful day; it was simply too much for him. In fact, the pups were lucky that he even got back into their daily morning routine. Although, it was mostly because he wanted to stay in shape.

The heart-warming side of Chase was now a rare sight. This absence was extremely noticeable with Chase because they used to love seeing that cute, playful side of him so much before hand. Now they would be considered lucky if he were to crack smile. All that was left was a demoralized, former police pup.

Shortly after training, Marshall ate a quick breakfast and weaseled his way out the door. Carefully clenched between his jaws was a folder which contained a copy of the mugshot of this 'Fritz' guy, something that he wanted nobody else to see.

Unfortunately, while trying to be stealthy, Marshall tripped over one of his chew toys that he left out, which was only common for the dalmatian to do. The fire pup was sent crashing into a helpless Rubble who was making his way back inside the Lookout.

"Oh Marshall! You're so clumsy!" The young, english bulldog giggled as he stood back up on his feet.

"My bad Rubble," Marshall apologized, "you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine." Rubble smiled. "Where are you off to?"

"Uhh…" Marshall paused trying to think of an excuse. He still didn't want to let anyone know about his discovery. Besides, Rubble was the youngest of all of them and this whole ordeal traumatized him three years back. The construction pup was definitely not at the top of the list of people to break the news to.

"... I'm just heading to Jake's Mountain for a bit," he lied.

"Oh cool!" Rubble responded before directing his attention to the file in the dalmatian's mouth. "Whatcha got there?"

"Oh this, uhh…" Before Marshall could think of diversion, the bulldog answered his own question.

"Is it a love letter for Everest!?" Rubble gasped.

"What?! No!" Marshall nearly choked on the folder as his face turned bright red.

"Aww you're blushing! Don't worry Marshall, I won't tell anyone!" The bulldog giggled once again as he continued on his way into the Lookout.

Marshall simply rolled his eyes and walked toward his pup house. It was a popular rumour around the Lookout that he had feelings for the husky, and in all honesty, the dalmatian himself wasn't sure that he even knew whether they were true. Sure he spent a lot of time with her, and he'd consider her a best friend at the very least, but did he have a crush on her? Maybe… but it was simply too difficult to tell for him.

Before transforming his pup house into his fire truck, Marshall went inside and dug deep into his dresser, looking for the three year old picture he had of the man. Once he found it, he tossed it into the filing folder and retrieved his laptop as well. From there, got into his vehicle and began making his way to Foggy Bottom.

As the dalmatian pup journeyed his way down the long, winding roads that headed towards the eerie, foggy city, he couldn't distract his mind from thinking about that fateful day. He shivered when he initially passed the bay, thinking about how the tables turned so quickly and so drastically.

 _It all started out so well… we were having so much fun…_

* * *

 **July 30th,** **3 Years Ago.**

The sun was beaming down on everybody at the bay, providing heat, tans, and the perfect weather for the Paw Patrol's beach day. Ryder, Katie and Jake had just set up the chairs, umbrellas and coolers, while the pups had set up a volleyball net and had begun playing.

"I call Skye on my team!" Chase declared.

"What!? No fair, you two are the best at volleyball!" Rubble complained.

"Yeah, your team would smoke everybody," added Zuma.

"Well…" the german shepherd pondered, "since Everest is here, we have an odd number of people. The other team can have the extra player."

The pups looked around at each other and grudgingly compiled with Chase's suggestion, with the exception of Rubble, however, who ended up on the so called 'good' team anyway. The german shepherd, however, discreetly let out a sigh of relief. The reason behind his desire for Skye to be on his team wasn't necessarily to help them win, but as long as the other's assumed that, he didn't care. Chase simply enjoyed working and playing with Skye in order to get closer to her, although sharing the joy and emotion of winning together was also a good thing.

Whilst the pups played their game of volleyball, the trio of humans, along with Cali, sat on their beach chairs attempting to catch a tan while creating small talk at the same time. Ryder talked about a few missions he and the pups had recently been on, while Jake updated them on his and Everest's adventures on the mountain. Katie was happy to sit quietly and listen, as was Cali who sat with her head held high as she licked her paws.

The air was filled with positive vibes, despite the mild bitterness some of the pups had after being smoked at volleyball by Chase, Rubble and Skye. After the intense game, all seven pups walked over to Ryder and company to get a cool, refreshing drink of water. By then, almost everyone was extremely hot and sweaty, meaning there was only one realistic option left for them.

"So... who's down for some swimming, dudes?" asked Zuma. The chocolate lab was met with barks and howls of agreement, along with nods of approval from Ryder, Katie and Jake. Rocky, as expected, objected this decision with no hesitation.

"I think I'll be fine just watching," Rocky smiled, "Right Cali?"

Cali, who was in complete agreement with the mixed breed, smiled and responded with a firm nod.

"Suit yourself," Zuma shrugged.

"Hey! You guys aren't going to start swimming without me, are ya?" An unknown voice called over from the distance. However, that voice wasn't unknown to all; in fact a specific german shepherd recognized that voice from anywhere.

The police pup's head whipped around in the other direction and the biggest of smiles formed upon his face.

"SWIFT!" Chase called out to his brother, who had just parked his car alongside the beach. The police pup made a mad sprint towards the other, larger german shepherd as he got out of his vehicle. The younger pup jumped into his brother's arms, tackling him while doing so, and began to lick his entire face.

"You made it!" Chase exclaimed and he stood over his brother.

"I sure did!" Swift responded as he got up and shook the sand out of his fur. By now, all of the other's had gathered around, eager to meet Chase's brother who was always talked about by the police pup back at the Lookout.

"Everybody," Chase proudly announced in front of his friends, "this is my brother, Swift!"

"Well it's nice to finally meet you!" Ryder welcomed as he walked over and stroked the top of Swift's head. "Chase has told all of us so much about you," the boy chuckled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well… Ryder, correct?" Swift assumed.

"That's me!" he assured.

Swift laughed, "Chase has told me a lot about you guys too."

Chase grinned at his brother's statement and began to introduce the other's. "This is Jake and Katie, as well as her cat, Ca-... Ah… Ahh.. ACHOOO! ...Cali." he sneezed, earning laughs all round. "And finally, these are my friends!" the police pup continued, "Everest, Marshall, Rocky, Rubble, Zuma, and Skye!"

"Wow, I can't believe I'm finally meeting you all face-to-face!" exclaimed Swift. "Now, let me guess…" he paused before pointing at the husky pup, "...you're Everest and are Jake's snow pup!"

"I sure am!" confirmed Everest.

Swift then moved on to the next pup, "Marshall, you're the team's firepup and medic, right?"

"You bet!" barked Marshall.

The german shepherd continued down the line of pups, "You're the environmentalist pup, you're the construction pup, and you're the water rescue pup!"

All three of them smiled and nodded, impressed by the knowledge of Chase's brother despite them never meeting.

"And finally, Skye!" Swift declared. "You're the aviator pup on the team."

Skye responded by cheerfully barking and doing her trademark backflip as she recited her catchphrase, "Let's take to the sky!"

"Chase has told me _a lot_ about you," he continued as he winked at his brother whose face was red and angry.

Marshall couldn't help but giggle a bit, as he also knew his best friend's secret. Meanwhile, Skye smiled and even blushed a little.

"Oh is that so?" the cockapoo giggled, raising an eyebrow at Chase.

The police pup, who was feeling absolutely mortified, quickly attempted to spare his blushes. "Wow! It sure is hot out here," he innocently chuckled, "Zuma, didn't you suggest we go swimming a minute ago?"

"Oh yeah!" the water rescue pup grinned, along with the rest of the pups and humans. Everyone but Rocky of course.

Slowly, everybody made their way towards the water. Chase on the other hand, stayed towards the back of the pack and brought his brother with him. Needless to say, the expression on the police pup's face was far from pleased.

"Hey, what's up squirt?" Swift nonchalantly asked as his little brother who stopped him in his tracks.

Chase rolled his eyes. "Don't ' _hey what's up'_ me!" He barked, low enough so the other's couldn't hear. "What was that for?"

"What was what?" Swift responded, toying with his younger sibling.

The smaller german shepherd slapped his forehead. "Don't act like you don't know! Why'd you say that to Skye?" He interrogated. "Especially in front of everybody!"

"Oh, sorry little dude! Next time I'll make sure we're alone," his older brother smirked.

"What? NO! There won't be a ' _next time,'_ " Chase insisted, "I told you during our call that I didn't want you to do anything like this!"

"Well, I guess it's up to you then," Swift shrugged and chuckled at the same time.

There was a slight pause as Chase tried processing what his brother said. "What do you mean by that…" Chase raised an eyebrow.

"Trust me Chase, I'm not doing this just to give you a hard time… entirely… I'm doing this for your own good." The larger german shepherd explained. "Life can change in an instant, so telling Skye how you feel as soon as possible is the smartest thing to do. You never know what could happen."

"But… earlier I told you I didn't like her…" Chase made a last ditch attempt to deny Swift's claims.

"And were you lying?" Swift raised an eyebrow back at Chase.

"...yeah," the police pup sighed, "I guess I'll try to tell her soon…"

"Ayyy, that's what I like to hear!" Swift smiled, patting his brother on the back. "Also, you know how _smooth_ I am with the ladies. If you need any help I can-"

"Ehh, I'll stop you right there," Chase placed his paw on his brother's lips to stop his boasting. "I think you've done enough already," he winked.

"Oh alright…" his brother playfully rolled his eyes and laughed, "Now, let's catch up with your friends, shall we?"

The two brothers caught up with the rest of the gang and jumped right into the cool, refreshing ocean water. They spent hours in there, playing all of their favourite games like marco polo, tag, catch, and Zuma's favourite: surfing! In fact, everybody was having so much fun that it nearly drove them to the point of exhaustion.

Katie was the first to slowly make her way out of the water. The feeling of the immense heat from the sun begin to dry her body so rapidly, that it gave her a great idea.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm exhausted!" She announced. "I'm going to go tan, feel free to join me!"

Ryder and Jake looked at each other and began to follow the girl, both deciding that it was a great idea. Plus, they figured they should check up on Rocky and Cali after leaving them on the beach for so long.

Despite the pups' inability to tan, due to their fur, Skye sprung at the opportunity to take a break from all of the action in the water. "Count me in guys!" she called as she caught up with them.

The guy pups, including Everest, were having so much fun in the water that the tiredness didn't bother them one bit. Besides, Zuma was giving out surfing lessons and the other's didn't want to miss out, especially Swift who didn't get the chance to come down to the bay very often. In fact, the german shepherd was surprisingly good at the sport.

After only a few failed attempts, he managed to stay upright on the board during the course of the entire wave. There may have not been any cool tricks, and he might have had a somewhat terrified look on his face the whole time, but Swift had done better than some of the pups who have been constantly practicing

"Wow! Good job Swift," Zuma applauded, "You're a natural!"

"Thanks!" he chuckled in response, "I guess it's easier than I thought."

"I wish I could say the same," Marshall yelled as he was launched off of his surfboard, landing face first in the water. This earned laughs from all the pups in the water, and even some of the ones watching from the beach. Eventually Marshall emerged from the surface and joined in the laughter as well, spitting out water while he did so.

Meanwhile, Chase was having a hard time staying on his board too, which was unlike the police pup. Like his brother, Chase was an athlete and usually caught onto things pretty quickly. In fact, just last week he went surfing with Zuma and Rubble and was doing just fine. Swift caught onto his brother's peculiar behaviour and decided to watch what he was doing.

However, it didn't take long before the older german shepherd realized what was distracting Chase, nor did it surprise him. Rather than focusing on the wave and his board, his little brother was paying attention to Skye, who was stretched out and laying across a towel further up the beach. Swift chuckled to himself and shook his head. _If only he'd just go and tell her_ , he chuckled to himself, _Looks like I might have to step in soon…_

After a little bit more surfing, the exhaustion of swimming did get to the rest of the pups still in the water, forcing them to get out and dry off. Upon noticing this, Ryder thought of a good idea to cool everybody down.

"How about we go get everybody ice cream?" Ryder suggested to Katie and Jake.

"Sounds great to me!" Katie smiled, with a nod of approval from Jake.

Ryder then called out to all of the pups who were scattered across the beach, "Hey pups, we're getting Ice Cream from Mr. Porter's! Vanilla right?"

"Yeah!" every pup replied in sync.

"Hey guys," Rubble said, directing his attention to all of the pups, "wanna do something while we're waiting for them? Like collect shells or something?"

"COUNT ME IN!" Rocky exclaimed. "Anything but sitting in this beach chair doing nothing! I swear it's been hours…"

"Well you _could have_ gone in the water with us…" Zuma rolled his eyes, also winking at the mixed breed.

"Ha! Good one," Rocky sarcastically smirked back at the chocolate lab.

"I think I'm fine here, thanks though!" Skye called over from her towel.

"Okay, no problem!" Rubble called back.

Seeing as mostly everyone was joining Rubble, Chase shrugged and went to join the pups as well. However, before he could take another step, Swift grabbed his tail, preventing him from going any further.

"Hey, what gives?" Chase turned around, raising his eyebrow.

"Chase, don't you see? This is the perfect opportunity!" Swift declared.

"For…?"

"To talk to Skye! Duh!" he rolled his eyes. "Look, she's all alone! Just like you wanted."

"Uhh, I'm not really ready yet… heh…" Chase nervously laughed and began playing with his paws.

"Oh, no worries. I'll get you started!" said Swift as he instantly turned to walk towards the cockapoo. However, like Swift did to him earlier, Chase stopped his brother dead in his tracks.

"No! I said I'd tell her myself, remember?" the police pup reminded Swift. "Just give me a little more time."

"Ugh, fine," Swift groaned in frustration. Almost instantly afterwards though, his eyes locked onto something in the distance, beyond Chase.

Upon noticing this his brother's glare, Chase turned his head and began questioning the reason behind it, "Huh? What are you looking at, Swift?"

"Don't you see it? It's way out there," he said, pointing far out into the sea. Chase fully turned his body around and squinted to try and make out what his brother was looking at. Unfortunately, he couldn't see a single thing, only the crystal blue water that filled the bay. Utterly confused, Chase began to turn back around.

"I can't see-" The police pup was stopped mid-sentence as he turned around to see Swift nonchalantly jogging over towards Skye.

"Swift, NO!" the younger german shepherd shouted. He began to sprint over there as fast as he could. However, it rendered useless as Swift was already more than halfway there. With all of his might, Chase was able to catch up with his brother just as they reached Skye. Unfortunately, it was not before the older shepherd could politely greet her.

"Hello Skye, how's it going?" the older german shepherd asked.

"Oh, hey Swift!" Skye replied as she looked up. The cockapoo smiled as Chase arrived as well and addressed him too, "Hey Chase!"

"Oh Chase! Didn't see you there," Swift lied, causing his younger brother to shoot him a glare. "Say, now that we're all here, how about you tell Skye that thing you wanted to tell her? You know, you were talking about it earlier."

At this point Chase was fuming, and giving Swift a look that said, _I am going to murder you if you don't stop talking_. However, the aviary pup wasn't making it any better for him.

"Oh, what is it?" Skye anxiously awaited a response, keeping that glowing smile painted on her face.

"Oh… um, actually I don't remember talking about, uh... anything." Chase managed to stutter a lie, "It must have been someone else…" he said, motioning for Swift to cut it out.

"Ha! Don't be silly Chase, it was just a moment ago." Swift playfully punched his brother's shoulder. "Wasn't it something about you having a crush—"

Before Swift could finally spill the beans for his younger brother, his mouth was slapped shut by the police pup.

"Oh wow! Would you look at that? Looks like Ryder and the other's need help with the ice cream. I should go help." Chase blurted out to try and distract Skye from what Swift nearly said. However, there was no way Chase was going to weasel his way out of this one, not on his older brother's watch.

"No worries, I'll go help them!" insisted Swift as he began trotting off towards the humans. He looked back and spoke his final words along with an obvious wink, "It'll give you two some _alone_ _time_."

"Alright then," Skye giggled at the two quarreling shepherds, "So, what did you want to tell me?"

"Umm... I actually can't even remember what it was about… I swear..." he blushed, "..but if it comes to mind I'll be sure to tell you."

"Promise?" proposed the cockapoo.

"...promise." Chase hesitantly nodded.

"So," he continued as he awkwardly twiddled his paws, "...you wanna do something? Like go for a walk or..?"

"I'd love to!" Skye shot up at the opportunity.

"Alright sweet!" Chase smiled at her eagerness as the two walked side by side towards the shoreline.

The bay didn't have a very long stretch of beach, but both pups tried to make the most of it and even walked as slow as possible, unaware of each other's intention. Their conversation mostly consisted of Skye asking the police pup about him and Swift. Typical questions arose, like how close they were, all the memories they shared together and how are things now that they don't live together, etc.

Watching Chase laugh and reflect on all of the good times he had with his brother really warmed the little cockapoo's heart. Not only was it intriguing for her as an only pup, but she loved seeing Chase in such a good mood. Likewise, Chase was pleased just to be alone in the presence of Skye. By the time they had reached the end of the shoreline, they were unintentionally walking so close together that they might as well have been leaning on each other. Moments like this, where it was just them two bonding, didn't come about too often so this was really something for the both of them to enjoy and savour.

Meanwhile, back at the gang's base camp, all of the pups besides Chase and Skye had met up to receive the ice cream which Swift had helped Ryder, Katie and Jake bring from Mr. Porter's.

Upon returning, Swift looked over towards the end of the beach to see his little brother and his _crush_ , playfully running away from the waves as they crashed along the shore and towards their direction. He couldn't help but smile and feel proud, as it seemed his younger brother finally racked up the nerve to confess his feelings to Skye.

As they handed out the ice cream to the pups, Swift secretly whispered to Ryder, "Just let Chase and Skye be for now, they can get their ice cream eventually."

Ryder looked up towards his two pups and gave a reassuring nod to the shepherd.

"I'm sure ice cream is the last thing on their minds at the moment," the boy winked. Swift winked back and chuckled as the two watched the love-pups play in the distance.

Eventually, Chase and Skye joined the rest of the pups with their ice cream and then everyone played a few more rounds of volleyball. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and soon Ryder gathered everybody around to start packing up for the day. Despite the groans and sad puppy faces, everybody did their share in helping clean and pack up. However, there was still one more thing they had to do before leaving.

"Okay guys, everybody get together. We're going to take a group picture!" Ryder announced.

As Ryder attempted to mount his pup pad on top of his ATV, everybody, including Swift, stood and posed as a group a few yards away. The humans all stood in the back, with Cali in her owner's arms, while the pups all sat in front. Naturally, Chase and Skye managed to sit next to each other on the very end, unsuspiciously to everyone else. Everyone except for Swift that is, who sat behind the couple and watched over them.

Once the pup pad was put in place, Ryder set a timer for ten seconds and quickly jogged over to the group, standing next to Katie and Jake. The photo was beautifully set up, with the bay composing half of the background, and Mr. Porter's restaurant composing the other half.

"Everybody say 'cheese' when you see the flash!" Ryder warned.

After a few seconds, a bright flash emitted from Ryder's pup pad and the whole gang shouted, 'cheese,' with the omission of a few. Unbeknownst to Chase, right as the flash came on, Skye took the opportunity to lean up against the german shepherd and nuzzle him, which resulted in the police pup to have quite a surprised look in the photo. The other pup to not join the others' resounding 'cheese' was Swift. He instantly noticed Skye rest her head against Chase's chest, to which he looked at them and smirked as the camera caught it all.

Once it was taken, Ryder looked at the picture with satisfaction and let everybody know that he'd send it to them later tonight. Chase, on the other hand, was blushing deep red as Skye walked away with a cute little smile on her face. Swift gave his brother a good nudge shortly after as a sort of 'congratulations.'

"Atta boy Chase! Get in there!" the older german shepherd grinned. Chase simply blushed even harder, also displaying a slight smile.

"Alright gang, it's time to head back," Ryder announced.

"Well, on that note, I think it's time for me to head home as well," Swift followed up.

"But dude, you haven't even visited the Lookout yet," Zuma pointed out, wishing he could stay. The other pups nodded in agreement since they also wanted their new friend to stay longer.

"Sorry pups, but my owners want me back before dark to avoid trouble." He explained.

The pups understandingly nodded but didn't refrain from displaying their disappointed faces, especially Chase. The police pup ran up to his older brother and gave him a big hug. He was so glad that Swift was finally able to visit him and his friends, and hoped that they would link up again soon.

"Thanks for coming," Chase smiled, "Please come back soon!"

The german shepherd's request was met with many nods of encouragement by the pups and even Ryder.

"Oh don't worry! I'll be back very soon," Swift promised. "But for now, I have to say goodbye."

In a short matter of time, all the pups said their goodbyes while Swift thanked Ryder for welcoming him to their beach day. Chase gave his brother one final hug as he whispered 'I love you,' in the softest of voices, making sure none of the other pups would see that side of him. Normally, Swift would expose this side of Chase and tease him about it in front of his friends as a brotherly joke, however this moment was simply too pure to let it go to waste.

"I love you too, Chase," he whispered back. And with that, everybody went their separate ways.

* * *

 **Present Day**

Marshall was almost able to crack a smile while thinking about these particular memories. However, it was what happened after that what changed and arguably ruined their lives forever. Luckily for him, the dalmatian had arrived at the coffee shop before those thoughts could cross his mind.

After struggling to park his enormous fire truck in the tiny spaces provides by the lot, Marshall entered through the shop doors. The atmosphere inside ejected calming and peaceful vibes, which settled some of the stress that was building up inside the fire pup on the way here. There was gentle music playing in the background, a couple people quietly enjoying their morning tea, and the subtle hum of the ceiling fans above as they kept the shop cool. It was just what he needed at a time like this.

After taking a moment to scan the room, Marshall found just the girl he was looking for. There in the corner was the female german shepherd and her greyish-blue shade of fur, enjoying her cup on coffee as she was nose-deep inside a magazine. The dalmatian gently approached her, careful not to startle the relaxing pup. When he got close enough, Marshall slowly pushed the magazine onto the table, revealing himself to their old friend.

"Marshall!" Sylvia exclaimed in a calm tone, "It's been so long! How are you?"

Marshall quietly chuckled in response as she got up to give him a friendly hug, "I'm good... well, as good as I _can_ be. How about yourself?"

"Good, good," Sylvia smiled in response. "Well, have a seat!" she gestured.

"Thank you," Marshall said as he got comfortable. "So how's the police pup job? Any promotions?"

Sylvia blushed and giggled slightly at the question, remaining humble however. "Oh, I've been upgraded from a normal police pup to Head Investigator and Prosecutor. Other than that though, not too much has changed though. Same department, better job. It's what I love to do."

"Well that's great to hear," the dally congratulated, "You were always the best at your job."

The german shepherd blushed and subtly thanked the fire pup before inquiring about his own life.

"So…" she hesitated before asking, second-guessing whether it was a smart topic to bring up, "...how's the rest of the Paw Patrol doing?"

Marshall sighed and looked down at the table, "Same old, same old. Everybody's been pretty lifeless around the Lookout. Particularly Chase…" The dalmatian paused and swallowed hard, looking up at Sylvia only to see her look and point her ears down as well. "...he just never fully recovered. He's able to at least act as if he's not hurting every once in a while, but he's just a hollow corpse of who he once was. He usually cries when he's alone or with Skye in his pup house… otherwise he's just quiet, almost isolating himself from society. It's quite eerie to be honest with you."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Sylvia sympathized with the dally.

"It's okay," Marshall sighed again, "We're kind of accustomed to it by now, although we certainly miss the good old days. Chase sometimes goes on long walks in the forest by himself; he's been doing it for over two years now. I always wonder if he will come back feeling refreshed, like his old self again. It never happens though…"

"Things like that take a lot of time," Sylvia comforted the fire pup, "I'm sure one day we will see the Chase that we all know and love."

"I hope so," Marshall shrugged.

"Anyway, so what did you want to bring me here for?" Sylvia questioned, recalling to when she was rudely awaken in the middle of the night.

As Marshall was about to speak, the high pitched 'ding' of a bell came oscillating from the front entrance, contrasting the peaceful atmosphere that filled the shop. Both pups directed their attention towards the noise, only to see Chase entering the building alone. Messy fur, dark circles, and reddish eyes were the features that stood out on the police pup. It was safe to say that he did not look his best.

"Speak of the devil," Marshall muttered to Sylvia.

Before the dalmatian had the chance to wave his friend down, Chase had already spotted the two pups. The german shepherd put on his fake smile and walked over to them. Deep inside of him, he was glad to see Marshall and especially Sylvia since it had been so long. But ever since the incident, the police pup could never manage to express a genuine smile of happiness.

"Hey Chase! How's it going?" Marshall smiled at his best friend.

"Chase, it's been so long! How are ya?" Sylvia simultaneously greeted.

"Hi guys," he subtly greeted them back, giving a quick hug to both, "I'm alright… I guess..."

"Did you just get back from one of your walks in the forest?" inquired Marshall.

"Yeah… it's quiet out there," Chase paused, continuing to talk in a calm, monotone voice, "I like the quiet."

"Well I'm glad you're enjoying yourself at least," Marshall tried to be as polite and friendly as possible.

"So, what brings you down here?" asked Sylvia.

"Oh, Skye's just feeling a bit under the weather," he sighed. "This is her favourite coffee shop so I'm picking her up an ice coffee and a bagel."

"Aw, that's sweet of you," Syl complimented.

Chase merely nodded in response as his focus shifted towards Marshall and Sylvia's intentions.

"So, why are you guys here?" the police pup asked back, gesturing towards the files and laptop on the table, "Looks important."

"Oh, Marshall called me late last night about something important he had to share with me," the female german shepherd explained, "We haven't talked yet but it looks to be about some sort of important case. You know, like the ones we worked on years… ago…"

Sylvia's tone decreased a few decibels as she finished her sentence, realizing that she should not have mentioned cases from the past. That was essentially the thing that had been tormenting Chase and the other's for the past three years, and it only struck her her mind as she said it.

Chase just stared blankly at both of them, containing his swirling emotions inside of him. The other two couldn't tell for the life of them whether Chase was upset, angry, in shock, or even happy for that matter. There were simply no emotions portrayed on the pups face after Syl's statement, almost as if he was in a trance. This went on for a short moment, and an awkward one to say the least.

Eventually, Chase snapped out of it and broke the silence.

"Well, uh... I'll let you two get on with your business," he offered, beginning to turn around. "Nice seeing you guys."

Marshall, however, was quick to stop the german shepherd.

"No no, stay. Please." Marshall insisted. "This concerns you…"

Chase looked back at Marshall with a bland but also slightly bemused look. Sylvia also glanced up with an intrigued expression. The dally's body filled with chills as he thought about the grave information he was about to reveal. With the most serious look on his face, Marshall dramatically concluded his sentence.

"I found him, Chase..." he faintly nodded, as the confused look on the police pup's face quickly became aghast.

"...I found Cliff Meyers."

* * *

 **I know I know, you guys still don't know what the 'incident' is yet, even after my long absence. I apologize, but that's just how I wrote it, heh. However, that may change once the next chapter is released... *wink* *wink* ;) Also, you guys have no clue who Cliff Meyers is either... once again, be patient. It'll come around eventually ;)**

 **Once again, sorry for my long absence, I'll try to avoid that from now on. See you guys next time :)**

 **~Swarm X**


	4. The Incident

**Hello again guys! I have a very highly anticipated chapter here for you, maybe regarding some sort of _incident_ ;) And it's a long one, so get your popcorn ready!**

 **Responses to Reviews (going to make this brief):**

 **- Guest: **Yes, Chase and Skye are together in the present, and no they are not (yet) together in the past. Hope that clears things up!

 **-** **Zuma Lover:** I appreciate the suggestion, but I already have all the characters in this story planned out. As for Swift, I've read other stories where he is evil, but that's not the case for mine. You have an interesting backstory about him though. Thank again for the review, always live reading your's.

 **- General: **Thank you all so much for the kind reviews and sharing so much love for the story. Makes me so happy during stressful times like these :) I'm also glad that this story has a a lot of you thinking, that was my goal and it's far from over ;) Remember, things might not be so obvious as they seem...

 **Welp, that's it from me for now. Enjoy!**

* * *

"...I found Cliff Meyers."

The colour drained from Chase's face as he stared at Marshall, struggling to think of anything to reply with. Sylvia, too, looked at Marshall in utter disbelief. Never did she think they would hear his name again, at least not in the context that Marshall described. This moment of complete shock brought with it a deafening silence, as the horrific memory of this man slowly began to play within all three of their minds.

* * *

 **Three Years Earlier**

As the evening started to fall upon Adventure Bay, the pups were enjoying their daily episode of _Apollo the Super Pup_ while Ryder was chilling out on the Lookout balcony. After a long day at the beach, none of the pups were really interested in playing some huge game in the yard, hence why they were all cooped up in the living room relaxing.

Everybody was enjoying themselves; Marshall and Rubble were sat right up in front of the T.V. screen, intensely keeping an eye on the program, while Rocky, Zuma, Chase and Skye sat behind them. Chase, of course, made an effort to sit next to the pup he was crushing on, hoping to potentially make a move on her without the others knowing.

The german shepherd was in the middle of going for the standard 'holding paws' move when a loud, blaring 'alert' noise blasted through the speakers, echoing throughout the room. It startled everybody so much, that it had even Rubble trembling. Shortly after, however, Ryder appeared on the big screen, reciting his traditional "Paw Patrol, to the Lookout!" phrase.

Only this time, something wasn't right. The boy was not nearly as cheerful as he usually was when calling his pups to a mission, not to mention he looked a little pale on the big screen. Despite these peculiarities, nobody decided to question it and everybody began making their way to the elevator, including Chase who was subtly cursing at the terrible timing of this mission.

Once every pup had made it upstairs, Chase began with his routine saying.

"Ready for action Ryder, sir!" He declared.

Before Ryder had a chance to say anything, the pups noticed once again how unsettled their owner looked and this time they didn't want it to go unmentioned.

"Ryder, what's wrong?" Marshall inquired, "You don't look so good."

"I'm sorry pups," Ryder apologized prior to providing an explanation, "but I'm afraid we have a pretty tough mission to handle today. I don't know all the details yet but the police are at Mr. Porter's as well, so it's real serious."

While it was a little scary to think about, they all acknowledged that it was a part of their job. A few of the pups responded with a slight nod, feeling slightly reassured that they were not going to be the only ones down there during an apparently drastic mission.

However, they still didn't totally understand Ryder's unusual behaviour, seeing as they've performed extremely high risk tasks in the past, including cliff rescues, air rescues, and literally every mission to stop Sweetie. Nevertheless, their owner continued on.

"Now, the only way to get past this is to simply get it over and done with," the boy suggested. "At the moment the police are only investigating, so I'll only need Chase and Marshall for the time being."

"Chase, your detective skills and superb sense of smell will be important for finding clues. As for Marshall, I'll explain your job on the way."

"Chase is on the case!" the german shepherd enthusiastically stated, attempting to show off his bravery in the tough, somewhat scary situation.

Marshall simply cocked his head. _That's strange…_ he thought to himself. Ryder never waited to explain each person's job. In fact, he even stood firmly against doing that because he wanted the pups to be prepared the handle the situation as quickly a possible when they arrived.

"I'm ready for a ruff-ruff rescue..." His voice trailed off in confusion.

To cut out the awkwardness, Ryder attempted to liven things up by exclaiming his catchphrase with slight eagerness.

"Paw Patrol is on a roll!" he declared. With that, the three of them got into their vehicles and made their way to Mr. Porter's restaurant.

As the trio drove across the bridge that overlooked the city, they could see the blue and red police sirens flashing in the distance where they were headed. Since it was a short journey, Ryder began to explain more of what was going on to give the selected pups a warning of what was to come.

"Pups, I didn't want to give out too much information about this mission back at the Lookout in fear of scaring the younger pups," he admitted.

"Is it that bad?" Chase asked, a little less confident than earlier.

"Well, I'll just get straight to the point…" the boy took a deep breath, "Somebody, I don't know who yet, has died… and it may have potentially been a homicide."

The air grew quiet for a brief moment as the two pups soaked in that information. Never had they dealt with something _that_ serious before. Now Ryder's behaviour was starting to make sense.

"That's where your job comes in Marshall…" Ryder bit his lip, worried about how the dalmatian would react, "as much as I hate to say it, we need your medical skills to analyze the body and give us information about what exactly happened…"

Again, silence filled the air. The second Ryder had mentioned that somebody perished, he knew his job wasn't going to be a fun one. Although hesitant to accept his role, Marshall knew that this was his job and he couldn't turn it down. After all, no job is too big, no pup is too small.

"When I joined the Paw Patrol, I promised that I would give it my all to help everyone on missions, no matter the circumstances," he stated, "and I don't plan to break that promise now."

"I knew you could do it!" Ryder encouraged the dally. However, by the time all of the chit chat was over, they had almost reached their destination.

The atmosphere upon their arrival was quite heavy, and even a little bit overwhelming. Yellow caution tape was stretched across the perimeter of Mr. Porter's restaurant and the surrounding area. Multiple police were standing about with notepads, taking into account any eyewitness reports as well as Mr. Porter's side of the story.

Also standing there, attached to a leash, was a familiar face of whom the pups had known from a long time ago, back when Chase used to enter herding competitions. Marshall and Chase walked over to the female pup right away, instantly recognizing her.

"Sylvia?" Chase inquired, getting the female german shepherd's attention.

"Chase! Marshall!" she exclaimed, "I figured I'd see some of you guys here! It's been a while, how've ya been?"

"Pretty good," Chase answered, nodding in agreeance with the dalmatian pup, "You know how it is, the occasional mission here and there, but we love helping out the citizens of Adventure Bay so it doesn't even feel like a job for us!"

"Well, excluding this mission… I guess," Marshall added, emphasizing the severity of this particular mission, "So how about you? It seems like you've found a new job. Congrats!"

"Thank you!" Sylvia smiled. "Herding kinda lost its charm for me after a while, so I decided to go into something somewhat similar but with a lot more authority. So here I am as a police pup for the Foggy Bottom Police Department."

"Wow, you wanted to be just like me, I'm flattered." Chase sarcastically chuckled.

"Haha, very funny," the female german shepherd rolled her eyes.

"So, are you gonna introduce us to your friend?" Marshall asked, looking up at the police officer holding Sylvia's leash.

"Oh, um… yeah," she stuttered, "This is Sgt. Ace. He's a police officer _and_ the Head Investigator and Prosecutor of the department"

She directed her attention to the police officer, "Sgt. Ace, I'd like you to meet my fr-"

"Yeah, yeah whatever!" Ace interrupted, "We got a job to do, so hurry up with the small talk and let's get this show on the road."

Chase and Marshall's faces went from cheerful and friendly to quiet and expressionless. Sylvia looked back at them and mouthed an apology, to which the boys simply nodded and went back to Ryder. Not every person could maintain a constant positive attitude, and Sgt. Ace seemed to be one of those guys.

As the two pups made their way back to their owner, the boy began to instruct them on what to do.

"Okay, I just spoke with some of the other police officers so here's the plan," Ryder began, "Chase, you're going to work with the other officers and Sylvia in helping them find clues around the outside of the restaurant."

"Chase is on the case!" He said, a little more enthusiastically than last time, as he walked over to join Sylvia.

"Marshall, like I briefly mentioned before, you're going to have to go behind the store, by the dumpster, and analyze the body. From what I've been told, and I hate to say it, it's actually a dog."

Marshall gulped at that statement. A dog? Sure, he'd seen other deceased animals before. Birds, squirrels, rabbits, even a cat. However, that was nowhere near the same magnitude as one of his own species. Despite an immense, uneasy feeling building up inside of him, Marshall was determined to stay professional. "Yes sir, Ryder," he obeyed.

Ryder quickly knelt down and rubbed the top of the dally's head. "I know this is something you're not entirely comfortable with," he comforted, "but I know you're capable of doing an excellent job."

Marshall formed somewhat of a half-smile on his face before giving Ryder a big lick on his cheek.

"Thanks Ryder," Marshall said, nuzzling him.

Once he retained composure, the medic pup took a deep breath and began to prepare for the slightly unorthodox autopsy. He ravaged through his vehicle for the items he needed, putting on plastic gloves and a surgical mask. He was ready. The dally quickly looked back up at Ryder; the boy gave his pup a reassuring nod before going to help the other officers.

 _This is it,_ Marshall sighed. The medical pup began to make his way down the long, dark alleyway. Actually, he couldn't really tell if it was truly dark. He wasn't sure whether or not the whole gravity of the situation was playing tricks on his mind. In fact, time seemed to be going much slower as the dalmatian pup walked down the long stretch of brick and concrete; the dumpster seemed to only be getting farther and farther away from him.

Marshall stopped and took a moment to calm down and collect himself. He closed his eyes. "It's okay Marshall," he quietly spoke to himself, "this is your job. This is your duty. There's nothing that can hurt you beyond this dumpster. Just analyze the body, collect all the information you can, and get out of there."

Slowly, Marshall resumed his journey down the alley. This time, he reached the dumpster at a much faster rate than moments ago. Before he turned the corner, he stopped one more time to prepare himself for the dreadful task. The dally took another deep breath, only he got a huge whiff of the body which was laying on the cement floor, just out of his view. It was so strong that it penetrated through his mask. He cringed at the awful stench, but continued to push through it.

 _Just get it over and done with Marshall,_ he attempted to motivate himself as he closed his eyes once again.

 _You can do this._

Within a fraction of a moment, Marshall rounded the corner and opened his eyes. Immediately, the medical pup let out a piercing gasp as his heart sank all the way down to his stomach. He just stared. His mouth was hung wide open, unable to process exactly what he was witnessing. The shocked pup blinked a few times, resulting in a thin layer of tears to form over his eyes. After glaring at the body from head to toe, Marshall covered his agape mouth with his paw. He simply couldn't believe was he was looking at; he didn't want to believe it.

In front of him was the motionless pup laying on its side. There were bruises scattered all over the body. Deep cuts, what looked to be like stab wounds, also covered the body, most crucially in the neck and head area. All of this was surrounded by a pool of blood. The pup was beaten unconscious and left to die.

However, that's not what left Marshall so shaken up. The gruesome scene wasn't the thing that was making him wish this was all some huge nightmare, which he was awaiting to be woken out of. No. It was nothing close to that...

The deceased pup that was now laying still in front of him, was Chase's brother.

Marshall turned around, not bearing to look at the dead body any longer. He staggered along down the alleyway, ripping off the surgical masks and gloves, trying his best not to spill the contents of his stomach all over the ground. He could feel his heart pounding and pounding against his chest, violently vibrating throughout his body like an earthquake. His vision was blurred, and a constant, high-pitched ringing filled his ears. A single tear rolled down his cheek as the dally poked his pale-green face out of the alley; he simply stopped and looked at the other's who were minding their own business and doing their jobs, not even aware of the tragedy that had occured. How he wished he could be in their shoes right now.

The dalmatian pup then focused onto Chase. The poor police pup was sniffing around with Sylvia, attempting to discover any clues that could point to suspects. Meanwhile, he was completely oblivious to the fact that his own brother, Swift, was the victim.

Marshall began to walk towards the two german shepherd pups, stumbling every step of the way. His stomach lurched at every thought of the dead body, which unfortunately was the only thing he could think of at the moment. He swallowed hard as he got closer and closer to Chase, not believing the news he was going to have to break to him, not even sure how he was going to do it. The poor dalmatian couldn't even handle it himself.

As Marshall got even closer, Chase and Sylvia looked up and were taken aback by their friend's appearance. They looked at each other and then back at the medic pup, who looked like he had just seen a ghost. Once the dally arrived, the two police pups didn't even have time to question him before he attempted to speak.

However, all that Marshall was able to let out were a few short breaths in an attempt to not hyperventilate. Now that he was closer, they could see the dalmatian's glossy eyes along with the trail of a tear down his face. Their looks of perplexity turned into looks of concern as Marshall slowly started to form words out of his mouth.

"C-Ch… Chase…" he stuttered.

At the same time, Ryder noticed Marshall's peculiar behaviour and started to walk over.

"Everything okay Marshall?" his owner called as he came closer to his pups.

Chase looked back after hearing Ryder call and was glad that he was heading over to check on Marshall, who looked far from okay. The german shepherd then directed his attention back to his best friend.

"What is it, buddy?" Chase tilted his head slightly, giving a puzzled look. Never had he seen Marshall, or anybody for that matter, act like this.

Marshall let out a few more short breaths and then swallowed hard once again, composing himself as much as he possibly could. Just as he began to speak somewhat properly again, Ryder arrived on the scene as well.

"It's… i-it's Swift," he choked on his words, letting another tear drip from his eye.

"What?" Chase raised his voice slightly, asking for clarification. His lip began to quiver ever so slightly as the muffled words left the dally's mouth. Surely he didn't hear his friend correctly.

"It's Swift…" Marshall sniffed as the waterworks really began to flow, "...it's your b-brother."

For only a split second, Chase stared at Marshall in utmost disbelief and anger, almost unwilling to accept the words that had just come out of his mouth. There was simply no way this was true. In no time, the german shepherd, with his immense strength and speed, pushed Marshall out of the way and sprinted towards the alleyway, leaving everyone in his dust.

Ryder and Sylvia followed suit, calling for Chase to wait for them in an attempt to maybe calm him down. At the same time, however, they themselves were in utter shock and disbelief upon hearing the news as well, both wanting to see the crime scene before they made any conclusions.

On the other hand, Marshall knew the reality of the situation. There was no doubt about whether his assumption was correct. He didn't want to see the horrific scene again, but at the same time he knew he'd have to comfort his best friend, and thus the dalmatian grudgingly walked towards the alley, grimacing at the horrible act that somebody had committed.

Chase raced down the alleyway, eyes glossy and blood pulsing through his veins. The shepherd said as many silent prayers as he could, hoping to God that Marshall was wrong. He didn't want to believe it. He had to see for himself. Unfortunately, the inevitable unfolded before his eyes.

The police pup screeched to a halt just past the dumpster, and there he was. Chase let out an inaudible gasp, unable to make a sound due to the shock that had struck him. There lay his only brother in a pool of blood, unconscious and covered in large gashes. The german shepherd agonizingly stared at Swift's body, unable to accept what he was seeing. As the reality of the situation began to sink in, his helpless body could do nothing but whimper and cry.

"No.. no.. no…no..." Chase repeated as his eyes began to flood with tears.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" He finally cried out, jumping on his bloody, lifeless brother and clenching onto his body with all the force he could physically exert.

The police pup's chilling cries echoed throughout the alleyway, as Ryder and Sylvia simultaneously stopped halfway through, realizing that what Marshall spoke was, in fact, true. Ryder quickly continued onward to try and deescalate the situation as much as possible, while Sylvia simply stopped there and covered her mouth with her paw. In shock, she looked at Marshall who had just entered the mouth of the alley. The dally glared at her and then bowed his head down in sorrow, continuing to cry.

As Ryder rounded the corner, he was met with Chase violently sobbing next to his brother, nuzzling and stroking his paws through Swift's wet, blood-stained fur. As devastated and disturbed as he was, Ryder attempted to pick up Chase and hold him as a form of comfort.

"Chase…" Ryder spoke softly as he reached down to grab his pup, tears flowing down his own cheeks as well.

However, Chase responded by pulling away from his owner and gripping his brother even tighter, letting the tears continue to pour out of his eyes. Ryder simply sighed and knelt down next to the two brothers, mourning over the loss. At the same time, Marshall and Sylvia had rounded the corner and sat next to Ryder with their heads faced down. The boy gently rested his hand on the back of his poor police pup as the sobbing got quieter and quieter, before the german shepherd whimpered the devastating truth of the situation.

"I lost my brother…"

* * *

 **Present Day**

Moments passed before the three pups zoned back into reality. Chase faintly shook his head and blinked a few times. His face looked as if he had just experienced the tragedy all over again; it was filled with shock, terror, and heartbreak. The german shepherd cleared his throat in order to compose himself before finally responding to the dalmatian's initial statement.

"W-where… uh.. is he?" Chase stuttered.

"He's on parole," answered Marshall, as he placed his laptop and file folder onto the coffee table, "just did a year behind bars for vandalism and destruction of property."

Sylvia raised an eyebrow at the dally, however he quickly opened his laptop and clicked on the tab which he was browsing the previous night. In no time, the mugshot that Marshall had discovered filled the screen.

"He now goes by the name, Fritz Blandowski." he explained. Marshall then pulled out the picture of ' _Fritz'_ from his filing folder and slapped it down onto the keyboard. Sylvia glanced down at it and then back at the screen, analyzing every detail.

"Was this from the felon database I gave you access to?" Sylvia raised an eyebrow. "Didn't I give you this—"

"Three years ago?" he finished the female shepherd's sentence. "Yeah. Started looking the day he got away…"

"For three years?" Chase reiterated, shocked that the dally had spent such an enormous amount of time searching for this man.

Marshall simply gave him a serious look and nodded. In the meantime, Sylvia continued with her analysis.

"The facial structures differ slightly, the eyes and hair are different colours—"

"Well, he probably dyed his hair and got contacts; maybe he even got surgery on his face," Marshall suggested.

Sylvia responded by giving him a doubtful look, causing Marshall to continue on.

"It makes sense, given what he did. He wants to remain hidden, hence the name change as well," he explained. "Besides, look at the at the ages. Cliff was twenty-two years old when we lost him three years ago, and this _Fritz_ guy is twenty-five now. Coincidence? I don't think so."

Sylvia looked back down at the two photos. She had to admit, besides the small differences that she depicted, they truly did look like the same person. There were a couple false sightings of Cliff over the years, but this guy looked very promising. Especially due to the fact their ages synced up.

"Can you reopen the case, Syl?" Marshall begged, "Please." He followed that up with the best puppy eyes he could pull off; the dally was very good at persuading Ryder with his adorable face back at the Lookout. To top that all off, he mouthed, ' _For Chase.'_

Sylvia turned her head towards Chase with a concerned look. The police pup still looked slightly traumatized purely by his memory of the situation.

"Chase?" she spoke softly, subtly grabbing his attention. "Is this what you want?"

The male german shepherd paused for a moment to process what was actually happening. He thought this case was finished almost three years ago. Never did he expect to have to face this cruel man again and relive the horror that he experienced when his brother died. Chase once again thought back to the moments after it happened, grimacing at the sorrow that had overcome him.

* * *

 **Three Years Earlier**

"You're no match for me, Zuma!" Skye laughed as she bounced left to right, mimicking the Pup Pup Boogie character on the Lookout's giant flat screen T.V.

Zuma panted as he tried his best to keep up with Skye, but it was no use. Eventually, the song came to an end and a big, red ' _GAME OVER'_ logo appeared on the chocolate lab's side of the T.V. The cockapoo yipped and did her typical back flip as Zuma plopped on his backside and caught his breath.

"Good game," the water pup congratulated as Skye helped him up.

Rocky and Rubble also stepped in from watching the intense dance battle.

"I'm telling you, there's just no beating Skye at her own game." the mixed breed shrugged as he patted Zuma on the back.

"One day I'll get there," the exhausted lab promised, winking at Skye.

Shortly after their game, the four pups heard the glass doors of the Lookout's front entrance slide open.

"Ryder's home!" Rubble cheered.

However, he and the other pups' happiness was short-lived once they heard the echoing whimpers of the pups rise up the elevator shaft. Each pup exchanged a horrified look as they all realized the mission didn't go well. Before any of them could react, the elevator bell rang.

Out emerged Ryder, whose eyes were noticeably red from crying. His face as pale as it was when the three of them first left the Lookout. Even worse was Chase, who was being held tightly by Ryder. The german shepherd was practically bawling, which was a very worrying sight considering the fact that none of the pups had ever seen him cry before. To add to that, blood covered some sections of his fur, leading Rocky, Skye, Rubble and Zuma to think the worst. They all had looks of terror growing on their faces, however, Ryder spoke before them.

"Pups, I w-want you to go downstairs. Right now," the boy ordered with a shaky voice.

In no time, Skye bursted into tears and ran up to Ryder's leg. "Is Chase hurt?" she cried.

"...Not physically," he hesitantly answered, "Now p-please, just do as I say. I'll be down in a minute."

The boy continued onward with Chase and went into his room, locking the door behind him. The four pups, who were all still worried sick, took the hint and stepped foot into the elevator. They could still hear Chase's heart-wrenching cries, which got fainter and fainter as they descended onto the main floor.

Instead, they could now hear a different pup crying, only not as much as Chase. The pups exited the elevator and turned the corner to see Marshall gently sobbing with his head buried into his beanbag. They all slowly walked up to him, Rubble now crying along with Skye. The negative and fearful atmosphere was just too much for the young english bulldog.

As they reached the weeping dalmatian pup, Rocky gently placed an arm on his back and spoke comfortingly, "Marshall, are you okay buddy?"

The dally lifted his head to see all of his friends, minus one, gathered around him, unknowing of the tragic event that happened at Mr. Porter's. He was in the same situation that he was in moments earlier when he had to break the news to Chase himself. Arguably, this was easier than telling the brother of the actual victim, however it still was anything but an easy task. He let out a deep sigh, wanting to just get it over with quick, unlike before.

"Someone was.. k-killed at Mr, Porter's," Marshall's heart sank again as those words left his mouth, "we went down there and it ended up being… Swift."

A unicent gasp was let out by all the pups, as Marshall dug his head back into his beanbag, not wanting to see the heartbroken reaction of the other pups. And heartbroken they were.

Rocky and Zuma were utterly speechless. They were so shocked that not even a tear was produced. The two pups simply sat there looking at each other, jaws dropped. The pup whom they had just met that morning and had spent the entire day with, their new friend, was no longer with them. Just like that. It was so sad and unsettling, so sudden as well. They just didn't know how to react.

Rubble merely continued to cry. The whole idea of death terrified him, and the fact that it was someone they knew, someone so close to Chase, made it even worse for him. He couldn't even imagine how Chase was feeling right now.

The worst of the four was, by all means, Skye. The cockapoo pup was nearly crying as much as Chase himself at this point. It hurt her enough to see the german shepherd hurt, but after all of the memories he shared of his brother while they walked along the beach, it made her feel exponentially worse about the situation. She was able to see the love and bond that the two shepherd's shared firsthand, and now that bond was broken forever. Skye only wished that she could be with Chase right now and give him a comforting hug, but that wasn't the case.

Some time passed before the elevator bell rang again and Ryder emerged, only to see the rest of his pups in a similar state as Chase's. When all of them lifted their heads and noticed their owner, the boy simply bowed his head in sorrow, knowing that the terrible news had reached them.

"I'm guessing Marshall told you pups what happened…" Ryder sighed, letting a tear roll down his cheek, "I'm sorry to say that it's true. At the moment, I need to stay with Chase and hopefully calm him down as much as I can. When that's done, I'll come see all of you pups in your pup houses, okay?"

The pups nodded, knowing that Chase was the top priority at the moment. Despite their individual sadness, they wanted the best for Chase who was in dire need of love and comfort. Ryder quickly pet each of his pups and kissed their foreheads.

"I love you pups, I'll talk to you guys soon," he promised. With that, each pup went their separate ways, coping with this tragedy the best they could. Deep down though, they knew that this would be a huge hurdle to overcome.

* * *

 **Present**

"Chase?" Sylvia repeated, interrupting his flashback.

The dazed german shepherd shook his head and looked back at Sylvia. His mind was being engulfed with thoughts as he struggled to think of an answer.

He began with a nervous chuckle in an attempt to hide his emotions. "Uh… I thought if I… ever found him again it would just be me and him on the dimly lit streets of downtown Adventure Bay, deep into the night. This is… sort of overwhelming," Chase admitted.

The police pup swallowed hard as he began to look at this situation more realistically, deciding to cut the stalling and be straightforward about his stance. He took a deep breath in and looked both Sylvia and Marshall in the eye.

"I'm not the pup I used to be," Chase bluntly stated, letting out his deep breath. This caused the dally and female shepherd to briefly exchange concerned looks before the police pup could continue. "All those missions, investigations, rescues… I just can't handle them anymore. And now this…"

The german shepherd paused again, taking in deep breaths in an attempt to compose himself as he thought and talked about a tough situation for him, until he finally finished his response.

"...I don't think I have the stomach to watch him walk away again." he concluded, holding back some tears. However, Marshall was quick to intervene.

"But Chase, Sylvia's the Head Investigator now," he explained, "Nobody butchers the case this time."

"Well, it's not that easy," Sylvia countered, "the police would have to get involved first and we don't actually have a case against this Fritz guy in the first place."

"Uh… what if we tried doing this a little less… officially," Chase slowly chimed in. "I could maybe meet with his parole officer and—"

Sylvia shook her head. "No no no, if we were to go through with this, as Swift's brother, you couldn't be involved, Chase. You know that." she interrupted.

Chase lowered his head and nodded. He did enough police work in his past to know that was true. At this point, with the whole resurgence of the situation, the german shepherd's spirit had been completely killed off. He couldn't even produce his fake smile that he did when initially arriving in the coffee shop. As a result, he decided it was best for him to leave for now.

"Well, whatever you decide to do, best of luck," Chase sighed. "Nice to see you again, Syl. I'll see you later Marshall." he waved goodbye as he went to order drinks for himself and Skye.

"Chase…" Marshall faintly called as he was about to stop the police pup from leaving, only to stop himself in the end. The dally realized that it was probably best to stop speaking about the incident in front of him. Eventually, when Chase left the coffee shop, the two pups resumed talking.

"Marshall, we've had many sightings of Cliff here in Foggy Bottom within the last three years, and all of them have been false," the investigator pup explained, implying that his sighting will most likely turn out to be false as well.

However, the fire pup read the female german shepherd's implication and refused it.

"Look at them Syl, they're the _same_ person," he insisted.

Sylvia looked back down at both the pictures, her face still portraying a bit of doubt. Marshall detected this and resorted to begging, along with his puppy eyes.

"Come on Syl, can't we just reopen the case? Just for a review; it can be super low key. That's all you'd be doing." the dalmatian pleaded. "This means everything, to me and the entire Paw Patrol. Please… for Chase."

The investigator pup thought about it for a moment, trying to block out Marshall's persuading looks. She eventually let out a huge sigh.

"I have a lot of work to do back at the station," she began as she stood up and closed Marshall's laptop, "I'll call you later tonight when I'm done, and if I make up my mind we can work something out."

"Yeah, sure! That's fine," Marshall exclaimed, grateful that she was at least considering it. He quickly calmed his excitement though, attempting to stay professional. "Want me to walk you out?" he offered, showing his gratitude.

Sylvia smiled and nodded, admiring the dalmatian's kindness. Marshall quickly packed up his things and left the coffee shop with the german shepherd before parting their separate ways. The dally hopped into his fire truck and watched as she got into her police car. He watched Syl for quite some time before she drove off, hoping to God that she would reopen the case. Soon it was his turn to drive off as well, but the thought remained in his head throughout the rest of the day.

* * *

Later that day, Sylvia sat in her office pondering as she organized her paperwork and neatly put it away. So many things were going through the investigator pup's mind; she thought back to the picture of this 'Fritz' guy, the false sightings of Cliff, and even the state of the Paw Patrol. There was so much for her to take in and consider. She wanted to help out her friends, but at the same time it could all be for nothing.

Eventually she decided that she needed to get out of her office for a bit. The shepherd briefly walked outside of the station for some fresh air before wandering back into the lengthy halls of the building, still contemplating what to do in this unthinkable situation that she was caught up in. Her stroll throughout the busy building eventually lead her to the warehouse where they kept boxes of each and every one of their previous cases.

She walked past each of the alphabetically ordered shelves, reminiscing in all of her previously solved cases. However, when she got to the 's' section, her gut was nagging her to trek down the aisle. And that she did.

As she approached the end of the long stretch of shelving, there in front of her was a closed box labelled, "Swift." Despite the bold, red, ' _CASE CLOSED'_ sticker plastered onto it, she knew deep inside that this particular case wasn't closed.

Sylvia stared at the box for what seemed like ages, almost as if it was taunting her. She was met with memories of the case and how excruciatingly unsatisfying it was to leave it unsolved. The investigator pup closed her eyes and let out a huge sigh. She had made her decision.

 _I hope I don't regret this,_ she thought to herself.

Then, with no more hesitation, she grabbed the box off the shelf and carried it to her office.

* * *

 **There you go! The infamous 'incident' that I had been teasing throughout the whole story so far has been revealed. Quite tragic, but we're just getting started. A lot of you saw that coming, I think, based on some of the reviews, but much respect for keeping it to yourself and not spoiling it. Thanks for reading! Until next time,**

 **~SwarmX**


	5. Living in the Past

**A/N: Hello again! Here with another chapter. Sorry for the long wait :( lot's of school stuff happening... Anyway, since it's been so long, I'll include a brief summary of the previous chapter so nobody is forced to reread it :) Hope it helps, and I might continue to do it if it's received well.**

Recap: **After running into Marshall and an old friend, Sylvia, at a coffee shop in Foggy Bottom, Chase discovers that the two are considering reopening a sickening homicide case that gravely affected the police pup and who he is today. They undergo an intense and horrifying flashback before parting ways to think about whether or not they should actually reopen the case. In the end, Sylvia makes the final call.**

 **Reviews: Most of them were just compliments so THANK YOU ALL 3 Hope you enjoy this chapter as well :)**

* * *

"Ah… Ahh… ACHOO!" Skye sneezed as she quickly put a kleenex up against her face.

The sick cockapoo aggressively blew her nose in an attempt to clear her sore and congested sinuses. She had been unwell for the past few days now, initially after returning from Jake's mountain along with the rest of the Paw Patrol. They had all gone on a trip there, sort of an excuse to clear all of their minds, and quite evidently, the aviator pup spent a little too much time outside in the cold.

These 'stress-relief' trips had become much more frequent over the years. In fact, they were so common that it wasn't even a special occasion anymore. The idea behind these trips was to allow the team to focus on relaxing and having run, rather than missions which lead to flashbacks of Swift's death.

Unfortunately, the vacations weren't turning out to be too effective. Ryder tried to plan more trips but it all ended up going downhill. The team was going places week after week and ended up pushing missions aside.

The pups kind of lost their touch when it came to the old routine mission. Rubble was absolutely terrified of something going wrong, Marshall was having bad flashbacks of finding Swift's body, and Chase wouldn't even show up when Ryder called everybody to the Lookout, which was highly unlike him. Granted, the german shepherd rarely left his pup house in any circumstance after the incident.

Skye couldn't help but feel that the Paw Patrol was losing their identity, that is, if it hadn't been lost already. That's why she tried her best to cheer up Chase in any way possible. There was no doubt that Chase was still their leader, no matter what he was going through or what his behaviour portrayed. Skye knew if she could spark even the smallest bit of motivation into the police pup, the enthusiastic and leader side of Chase that they all knew and loved may finally return. Alas, she had been trying this tactic for the past three years but to no avail.

The cockapoo was in the middle of blowing her nose while lost in her thoughts, when a knock came from the other side of her pup house door.

"Come in," she called, presuming it was Chase.

And Chase it was, who opened the door and welcomed himself in, holding the food between his jaws. Skye instantly noticed that something wasn't right. At this point, it was normal to see Chase in a depressed and tired state; it had been like that for a couple years and there was almost nothing they could do to change that. But every so often, the police pup would be having an extra bad day, whether it was related to the incident or not. This time, it was the red eyes and dry tears on his cheeks that gave his mood away this time.

The cockapoo stood up from her bed as Chase gave her the ice coffee and her bagel. She put the drink aside for a moment and wrapped her arms around the german shepherd, gently nuzzling him.

"Thanks Chase," she said, hugging him a little bit tighter before letting go and sitting back down on her bed. She motioned the police pup to have a seat as well. "Is something the matter Chase?" she politely asked.

Chase just looked down and sighed, maintaining the glum face that almost never left him. A single tear escaped his eye and rolled down his cheek before he could hold the rest back.

"I saw Marshall at the coffee shop," Chase began, "he was with Sylvia, you know, the one that worked with the Police Department of Foggy Bottom, she used to compete in herding with me?"

Skye nodded, remembering the days when they helped boost Chase's confidence in order to defeat the other german shepherd pup in those competitions.

"Well, I guess she's the Head Investigator now," he continued, " and they were talking about… Swift's case…"

The police pup sniffled, preventing more tears from flowing. On the other hand, Skye had a puzzled look on her face.

"What? Why are they bringing that up again?" scolded Skye. "They were supposed to stop pursuing that years ago.. all that it brought with it was sadness and injustice…" she frowned, angry that they were essentially causing Chase even more grief.

Chase lifted his head back up and looked directly into Skye's sparkling, magenta eyes. The cockapoo looked back into the pup's glossy, amber eyes which were clearly filled with unwanted tears. Eventually, the shepherd shared the vital, somewhat shocking, piece of information.

"They think they found him, Skye. They think they've found the man that… that…" Chase tried to go on but his emotions were beginning to be a bit too overwhelming. He could no longer hold back the tears as many started to trickle down his cheeks. The death of his brother still gravely affected him today; it was even too difficult for him to talk about.

Skye immediately and instinctively pulled him into a hug, putting forth as much comfort as she possibly could. She rubbed her paw through his fur in an attempt to calm him down as she, too, tried to process this huge discovery.

"Well... we don't know for sure if it's him, right?" Skye proposed.

However, Chase shrugged and sniffled.

"They're almost positive, but I don't think it's him," Chase voiced his opinion. "Either way, that's what I'm going to be subjected to for the next foreseeable future. All that I'm going to be surrounded by is the talk of how my brother d-died…"

The police pup started to cry a little bit more after opening up to Skye, to which she responded by holding him tighter and forcing him down on the bed to lie and cuddle with her. Rather than speaking about the situation, which only seemed to make things worse, the cockapoo thought it would be best to let Chase simply cry his emotions out as they embraced each other. Regarding his mental health, it was definitely the better option.

As Skye lied there, holding onto Chase, she couldn't help but think back to the time he first confessed his feelings to her. Oddly enough, it was quite similar to the situation they were currently in.

* * *

 **Three Years Earlier**

A week had gone by since the passing of Chase's brother. In fact, the pups had all just returned from out of town, attending the german shepherd's funeral. As expected, Chase was in tears for nearly the entire ceremony; he was the only one left of his family.

On the brighter side of things, his parents passed away when he was young, so he didn't have a distinct memory of the time. But Swift's death was something he would _never_ forget, no matter how hard he tried.

To no surprise, Chase went straight from the paw patroller into his pup house, not speaking a word to anyone. It was heartbreaking for Skye to have to watch one of the most brave and noble pups she knew deteriorate into this depressed, fragile pup with seemingly nothing to cheer him up. The cockapoo would give her life for Chase if it meant he could be rejuvenated into his former self.

Ryder was about to follow Chase to his pup house in an attempt to cheer him up, for the fifth time that day, but Skye stopped him.

"Ryder, wait!" she called, catching up with him. "Let me try talking to him, it might be better if another pup tries to comfort him."

The boy smiled and pet the top of Skye's head. "Good idea Skye, I hope you make more progress than I have," he encouraged her.

Skye faintly smiled and thanked Ryder before knocking on the police pup's door, only to be met with loud sobs. She then began to knock harder.

"Chase?" she called, "Can I come in?"

Once again, she was met with no response. However, this time the sobbing subsided for a moment. Shorty after, the cockapoo's ears perked at a faint clicking noise; it was the lock on Chase's door popping open.

Skye took the hint, entering very calmly and gently. The german shepherd was lying on his bed and faintly weeping, clearly trying to hold back his cries as much as he could. She could tell that the police pup was mortified by his behaviour, but simply couldn't help himself. On the contrary, Skye wasn't bothered at all by Chase's emotion. Instead she was glad that he was letting them run loose; it was the healthier thing to do.

Without hesitating, Skye joined Chase on his bed and gently rubbed his back.

"I'm here for you, Chase," she spoke softly, "if there's anything you want to talk about, I'll always be right next door."

The police pup felt goosebumps fill his entire body as his longtime crush attempted to comfort him. He tried his best to compose himself but began to think, what was the point? Why was he sat here, attempting to stay cool and hide his emotions and feelings from Skye? What if something were to happen and he never got the chance to tell Skye how he felt? Swift had even said it himself; life can change in an instant, you never know what can happen. Unfortunately, Chase's brother was the victim of his own wise words, and Chase had to learn that lesson the hard way. With seemingly nothing left to lose, the german shepherd simply went for it.

"I love you, Skye," Chase sniffled, "...more than just a friend."

Skye's eyes widened slightly. Given the current situation, that was the last thing she expected to hear come out of his mouth.

"Swift wanted me to tell you that..." he carried on in a sad, monotone voice. "I was too embarrassed to admit it, but he kept insisting that I tell you. He kept saying that it was important to spill the beans as soon as possible, and now I finally realize what he meant. Life is too short, so I figured I'd let you know, in case anything were to ever happen to one of us..."

The cockapoo swallowed hard as she was now the one trying to hold back her tears. She had also been hiding her feelings for the german shepherd for a while now, and that was something she was hoping Chase would say for a very long time; the words, _I love you_. However, the context that it was said in was just so dispiriting. Skye didn't know whether to be happy or sad. Nevertheless, the tears eventually began leaking out of her eyes.

The aviator pup nestled down next to the police pup, snuggling up next to his fine, muscular body, and licked his cheek. This caused Chase to stop crying for a moment and soak in what just happened. That is, until Skye spoke the words that made him momentarily forget about his brother's passing.

"I love you too, Chase."

The german shepherd was so overwhelmed, he didn't know how to react. His heart began racing as he processed Skye's words. The traumatized pup had literally dreamt about this moment for years and to have it happen at a time as devastating as this was almost too much to handle.

At a loss for words, Chase grabbed a hold of Skye and locked his arms around her, nuzzling the side of her face. The cockapoo embraced the police pup and tightened the hug as they both ceased their tears for the time being; there was just an overall feeling of comfort as the two pups laid there, latched onto each other. It was really something they needed to help cope with the tragedy they were facing.

Eventually, the two love-pups dozed off side by side. Whether or not their newly formed relationship would heal the pain, especially Chase's, in the long run was uncertain. However, at least for now, the pups were able to fall asleep with something to be happy about.

* * *

 **Present Day**

 _KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_

Skye shifted in her bed as a few taps coming from the other side of her pup house door interrupted her sleep. Eventually, the door creaked open and a familiar dalmatian pup poked his head into the room.

"Skye?" he whispered loudly.

This was enough to cause the cockapoo to fully wake up and shoot a tired, groggy expression Marshall's way. She then looked at the clock only to discover that she and Chase had slept all the way until dinner time.

 _Must have gotten so lost in my thoughts that I dozed off_ , she shrugged to herself.

"Hey Skye, sorry to wake you," Marshall apologized. "Is that Chase under the covers too?"

"Yeah…" she answered, "tell Ryder we'll be at dinner in a few."

Skye looked down at Chase, who was fast asleep, and began gently waking the german shepherd up. She softly called his name and ran her paw through his chestnut fur, allowing him to peacefully awake. However, Marshall continued on.

"Oh.. uh, that's not actually what I was here for..." he informed the cockapoo, "Did, uh… Chase tell you anything earlier today?"

Skye turned from the awakening police pup and aimed an unpleasant look towards Marshall; the spiteful glare gave the fire pup the chills.

"Yeah, he did," she eventually answered in a sassy tone. The aviator pup then hopped off the bed and got up in the dally's face, emphasizing her disapproval.

"What were you thinking by bringing this whole thing up again?!" she scolded. "I thought we agreed to put this behind us years ago!"

Marshall placed a paw on the cockapoo's shoulder, trying to calm her down before speaking.

"Skye, I am certain that we've found Cliff," he informed her, "Don't you want him to receive the punishment he deserves?"

Despite his attempts to be comforting, Skye was quick to slap Marshall's paw off of her, maintaining her angry glare.

"All I want is for Chase to be _happy_ again!" she barked. "And as long as he is constantly being reminded of his brother, that will never happen." All of this emotion and frustration building up inside of the cockapoo was now nearly driving her to tears.

Realizing that words were not rendering very effective with Skye, the dalmatian pup resorted to pulling out the mugshot he found and showing it to Skye.

"This _is_ him, Skye," he insisted. "If we were to catch this guy, Chase would be over the moon."

The angry pup snatched the picture out of Marshall's paws and silently frowned at it. Even she had to admit that it looked exactly like Cliff, regardless of what the information on the mugshot portrayed. However, that didn't change the fact that she was upset over Chase's depression during the past three years and didn't want it getting worse. Skye simply sighed and handed the picture back to Marshall, thinking about the whole situation.

After a lengthy pause, she finally responded.

"He better not get away this time…" the cockapoo coldly warned him.

"He's not going to get away this time, Sylvia is the Head Investigator now and—"

"Marshall?" Chase interrupted as he drowsily rubbed his eyes.

"Hey Chase!" Marshall softly and politely greeted him. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired…" the german shepherd answered simplistically.

"Oh, well I'm sorry that I caught you at a bad time but I just wanted to tell you something," he informed.

Chase simply nodded as a motion for him to go on.

"Well, I just spoke to Sylvia…" he began, "..and we're going to reopen the investigation on Cliff..."

The police pup abruptly stopped rubbing his eyes and looked at the ground in silence. Marshall instantly felt somewhat guilty of making Chase more upset but at the same time was trying to help him. Skye on the other hand was half worried about her mate and half annoyed with Marshall and Sylvia for doing this. The cockapoo shot the dally a look to which he responded by trying to cheer up the sad police pup.

"I know you're still a little upset and shook over this whole ordeal, but trust me, we are going to catch this guy dead or alive," assured the dalmatian pup, "you have my word, buddy."

Chase remained in the same position and kept his silence, only shrugging at the dally's promise. Marshall quietly let out a depressed sigh, knowing that until Cliff was locked up forever, Chase would continue to feel dejected. Comforting words were just not enough.

"Skye," Marshall whispered, "before I go, can you make sure nobody else finds out about this? We have to keep it as low key as possible; if anyone finds out, we may have to close the case back up."

"Well, I can say for sure that Chase won't be dying to talk about it to anybody," she sighed, still slightly disapproving of this whole case reopening nonsense. "...But don't worry, I won't either," she promised.

Upon hearing that, Marshall instantly gave Skye a brief hug. "Thank you so much, Skye! You will not regret this, we _will_ catch him."

Once the dalmatian pup left the pup house, Skye looked to Chase who had finally gotten up off of the bed.

"I'm going on a walk," he bluntly stated.

"Chase…" Skye disappointingly sighed as the german shepherd walked towards the door.

"I'm just going to try and clear my mind," he said defensively, in a somewhat grouchy tone.

"Are you going to the forest again?" worried Skye. "Can I at least come with you?"

"...I'd rather go alone," voiced Chase, trying to be polite despite the agitation that came along with being woken up from a deep sleep. Especially being woken up to such news.

"Okay…" the cockapoo sighed again, "..please be careful."

Before leaving, Chase turned around and gave Skye a quick hug, feeling slightly bad for turning her down.

"I will, Skye," he promised, still speaking in a cold, monotone voice, "don't worry."

Unfortunately, the only thing Skye _could_ do was worry. Chase was never himself whenever he would return from the forest. Granted, he hadn't been himself since his brother died, but it would only get worse and worse after these walks through the woods. It seemed like a piece of his old self stayed there each time and never came back. Whatever he was doing in that forest, even if it _was_ only going for walks and trying to clear his mind, it wasn't helping.

Sadly, there was nothing Skye or anybody could do to stop it. It didn't matter if the Paw Patrol, including Ryder, wanted Chase to put an end to his long hikes through the forest; it had become a routine thing and only bad could come from interfering with it.

Now also in a sad mood, Skye left her pup house with Chase but made her way inside the Lookout where dinner was being made. The cockapoo informed everybody that the german shepherd would most likely be eating his food cold, to which everybody understood that he was going on another one of his walks.

On the other hand, Chase headed back towards his pup house and transformed it into its vehicle mode. His police cruiser splashed through the cold, wet puddles along the road as the light rain continued to fall from the clouds, making the shepherd even more glum.

After a depressing, five minute drive, the police pup finally arrived and parked his car on the muddy gravel right outside the trail's entrance. As he hopped out of the cruiser, Chase took a moment to sit and stare at the forest before him. Large coniferous trees stood tall and crowded, blocking the towering cliffs and caves that could be found at the end of the long, winding path.

To the average person, or pup, these menacing woods wouldn't be the first place to visit in order to try and clear their thoughts, especially doing so _alone_. However, after returning for over two years now, Chase wasn't bothered by the forest's intimidating appearance.

After all, what did he have to fear after experiencing a tragedy as devastating as losing his brother; it completely ruined him, and caused the shepherd to simply not care about many aspects of his life anymore, including his fears.

Chase inhaled a few deep breaths before eventually entering the forest. It was dark and quiet in there; little to no animals running around, and little to no sunlight shining through the branches, which was probably partially due to the miserable weather.

Despite allegedly going there to clear his mind, the bitter forest transcended bleak thoughts into the police pups mind. This is essentially what happened all the time now; attempting to clear his mind was nothing but a mere alibi at this point. These cold, dark thoughts implemented into Chase's head were typically centred around Swift's death and how much he missed him. Sometimes, these thoughts even brought along the pure horror that the german shepherd felt when he turned that corner and saw his brother laying there.

This time, however, it was a different story. All Chase could think about was Cliff, the man who took Swift's life. The shepherd remembered how devastated he was when this excuse of a human being managed to flee the Paw Patrol, and even the police for that matter. The feeling of absolute helplessness and knowing that they'd unjustly lost the battle against this man was demoralizing.

Now, all of a sudden, Marshall and Sylvia had supposedly found Cliff again and are planning to go head over heels to detain him. Though, things were different now. Nearly three years had passed since the incident and Chase didn't really want to reopen the pursuit. He wanted to bury all of this deep into the ground and not be reminded of it. He wanted to pretend that Cliff ceased to exist. But as long as people were constantly looking for him, this simply couldn't happen. And despite his protests, Chase couldn't do much to stop them from pursuing the case.

The police pup walked deeper and deeper into the forest as he thought about the current situation more.

 _Nothing good came from trying to arrest Cliff last time, why was this any different,_ he thought to himself.

The entire hunt for Cliff was etched into the memory of Chase, play by play. He got all of his hopes up that justice was going to be served, only to be completely shut down in the end.

The broken german shepherd let out a deep sigh as the whole memory played vividly within his mind.

* * *

 **Mostly a Chase X Skye chapter here, with some interesting information sprinkled in as well. Also, something important, as you may have read in the final line of the chapter, I foreshadowed another flashback. This flashback is going to be an extremely long one, a major part of the story, and will last multiple chapters. Therefore there won't be any more 'Present' or 'Three Years Ago' subtitles for a while, it'll simply all be taking place in the "three years ago" era, right after the incident. I will remind you guys again next chapter that this is the case, and once this long flashback ends I will also make it clear that it is ending, and we will go back to the subtitle system. Hope that's not too confusing... Regardless, hope you're enjoying this story :) Until next time,**

 **~SwarmX**


	6. A Spark Of Hope

**RECAP:** **After putting a lot of thought into it, Sylvia decides to take a chance and briefly reopen Swift's Murder Case, much to the pleasure of Marshall who is determined to revitalize Chase and the entire Paw Patrol. However, the german shepherd himself isn't fond of the idea, not really wanting to be dragged back into this mess which has kept him devastated for the past three years. To cope with this sadness, Chase goes for a lone walk in the forest to distract himself from this tragedy, only to be met by a long, vivid flashback of the _first_ time they tried to capture Swift's murderer, which didn't end too well.**

 **A/N: Annnnnddd here we are now. This is the beginning of Chase's long, vivid flashback. As I said in the previous chapter, for the next little while we will only be in the past (3 years ago), until the story says otherwise. Enjoy Chapter 5!**

* * *

 **Three Years Ago**

Marshall entered the Lookout doors, having just woken up from a long, restless night's sleep. Things were much different around there now. The once busy, lively building was now quiet, like a ghost town. There wasn't a pup in sight, not even Ryder was walking around in there.

The pups didn't wake up at a specific time anymore either. Chase no longer woke them up early to do their daily training. Instead they just slept until they felt it was time to get up. Sometimes some of the pups wouldn't even leave their pup house for the entire day.

It was quite a sad thing to see, the team dissolving into almost nothing. Nobody liked it, but at the same time, nobody did anything to stop it.

As the dally continued into the Lookout, he noticed a faint flickering light ignite the family room, where the large flat screen T.V. and the pups' bean bags were. Upon further inspection, Marshall saw that it was coming from a candle that was placed on one of the tables. It filled the room with a pleasant lavender scent, Chase's favourite. Unfortunately, it couldn't compensate for the sorrow that was embedded within the Paw Patrol.

Marshall walked closer, admiring the beautiful fragrance it emitted. Next to the candle, was a framed picture which wasn't there before. He cocked his head to the side, analyzing it and discovering that it was the photo they took during their beach day. The dalmatian picked up the picture and looked at it closer, wanting appreciate it more. All of his friends were sat there, smiling after the fun time they had; something that was foreign to them over the course of this past week.

He then looked towards Swift. The older german shepherd was looking down and smirking at his younger brother, who was being nuzzled by Skye. Marshall couldn't help but chuckle at the cute image of the three of them, before being hit with another wave of sadness as he realized that Chase's older brother was no longer with them.

The fire pup let out a sniffle in an attempt to hold back tears when he spotted something in the background of the picture. He squinted at the figure, holding the photo much closer to his face.

"Who is that man?" he questioned to himself.

Surely enough, far behind the Paw Patrol and their friends who were posing for the picture, a suspicious man was stood there in a jacket, looking directly at Chase's brother.

"Why is he staring at Swift like that…"

As Marshall began to put the pieces together, a nerve struck within him.

This man, was he the one who killed Swift? Was he the one who caused the Paw Patrol to be in absolute shambles? The one who completely and emotionally ruined Chase?

The dally emitted a growl below his breath, clenching his paws at the sight of this. He instantly ran back outside of the Lookout with the picture clenched between his jaws, pursuing the painful hunch he had.

First stop, Zuma's pup house.

Marshall angrily banged on the chocolate lab's door, allowing his fury to take over his actions. After a few moments of silence, Zuma timidly emerged to see the dalmatian pup boiling like a kettle.

"Zuma!" he barked, "Do you know who this is? Do you remember seeing him last week?"

The water pup merely winced at Marshall's aggressive manner; he rarely ever got mad at anything. On top of that, Zuma had no clue what the fire pup was talking about and didn't deserve to be yelled at, especially during the hard time everyone was going through.

"Whoa, chill dude…" Zuma subtly said, slightly intimidated.

Marshall immediately recognized his irrational behaviour and quickly apologized.

"Sorry Zuma, I didn't mean to be rude, I just… nevermind."

The dally was about to make the same old excuse of being so distraught over the entire situation that it caused him to act different. While it was true, it had been repeated over and over again so many times that it was almost pointless to say; it was simply implied.

"This guy in the background," he continued, pointing at the ominous man in the background, "have you seen him before? Did you see him during our beach day?"

Zuma took the picture from the dalmatian's hands and analyzed it more closely, only to come up with a shrug.

"Sorry dude, I don't know who that is, nor did I see him that day," Zuma answered honestly. However, shortly after he began to catch on to what Marshall was getting at. "You don't think that… _he_ did it… do you?"

"I don't know yet, I'm just trying to find answers," the fire pup responded. "Thanks anyway, Zuma, I hope you're feeling better about this whole situation."

"No problem dude, you too," he chocolate lab replied.

Marshall ventured on, visiting Rocky's puphouse, then Rubble's and finally Skye's. Unfortunately, all the answers he received were identical to Zuma's; nobody knew who this guy was. He was about to continue when he realized which pup was next.

Chase.

The dalmatian bit his lip, unsure of whether or not to question the german shepherd pup at all about this. There was no doubt that he was the most devastated regarding Swift's death, but at the same time he definitely knew the most information about his brother.

Marshall walked closer and slowly began to hear the faint sobs coming from the police pup's puphouse, causing him to pause and rethink his decision once again. He didn't want to remind Chase of the incident more than was necessary. However, if it meant finding the man responsible for Swift's death, it was well worth it.

Holding his breath, the dalmatian walked up to the german shepherd's door and gently knocked, trying not to spook the distraught pup. He waited patiently but the faint sobbing never stopped. Once again, he knocked but slightly louder.

"Chase? You in there, buddy?" Marshall called.

After a slight pause, Chase's door opened a crack and he could see the police pup's red, puffy eyes peeking out of it.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

"Oh.. sorry Chase, I don't mean to bother you," he apologized, still trying to be as polite as possible and to not further upset the shepherd, "I just wanted to check up on how you were doing, and maybe try and get some information about this whole uh… thing…"

Chase merely looked down and sighed, ashamed of his rude behaviour.

"I'm sorry Marshall," he instead apologized as the waterworks began to flow again, "I know you mean well, I just… I don't know what to think anymore…"

As the police pup welcomed Marshall, the dally immediately wrapped him in his arms; Marshall hated seeing his best friend in such a state. Chase embraced the warm, friendly hug with open arms as he softly cried into the fire pups shoulder.

"I-I just can't believe that we're dealing with a murder case…" the upset pup continued on, "...and the pup that was m-murdered was… my b-brother."

"I know Chase, I know," Marshall comforted as he rubbed his friends back, "It isn't fair."

Slowly but surely, the hug broke and Chase managed to calm himself down a bit. It had gone silent for a moment, perfectly allowing Marshall to proceed with his investigation, and that he did.

"So, uh… did Swift have any other friends from Adventure Bay?" the fire pup questioned, "Pups? Humans?"

Chase shook his head.

"No," he sniffed, "this was his first time even coming to Adventure Bay."

Marshall then pulled out the picture and pointed out the suspicious man standing in the background. Chase took the photo and took a closer look, he hadn't seen how it had turned out yet. Swift was the immediate thing that the shepherd's eyes locked onto, despite the dally's intention. He saw his brother make a proud smirk towards him as Skye nuzzled his chest, displaying his motivation to set up the two pups.

A tear rolled down Chase's cheek. He never truly appreciated his brother's playful teasing and jokes. All that Swift wanted to do was to help him out, and the police pup kept trying to make him stop. Now, Swift wasn't even there to tease Chase, or do anything of the sort. The german shepherd wished he could go back and value the time spent with his brother, especially the times where they poked fun at each other. But that time was gone now, and there was nothing Chase could do about it.

Suddenly, the police pup was snapped out of his thoughts as Marshall cleared his throat and pointed at the mysterious man in the background of the image.

"Do you know who this man is?" asked the fire pup, "Did Swift ever mention him to you?"

Once again, Chase shook his head.

"No, why would he?" the shepherd replied.

Marshall simply shrugged in response, somewhat disappointed with the lack of information he was receiving.

"So, you didn't see him at all during that day?" the dally continued asking questions.

"No, I didn't," Chase answered truthfully.

At this point, the police pup was completely drained of sadness; every single teardrop had left his body. Instead, a wave of coldness dwelled over him. Not physical coldness, but rather a lack of emotions. Swift was gone forever and nothing was going to bring him back. Likewise, his death resulted in a piece of Chase to be gone forever as well; a piece of his innocence, which used to keep the shepherd happy and motivated. As long as his brother was gone, this side of the police pup remained absent too.

"So, is this the guy?" Chase bluntly asked as he put an end to his crying.

"I have no clue," Marshall admitted through a sigh, "I'm just trying to get some information."

Chase simply nodded, went back to his bed and laid down, maintaining an emotionless expression on his face. Marshall recognized his friend's lack of desire to talk any further and respectfully decided to leave him alone.

"Okay, well I'm going to get going and hopefully find some more clues," the dalmatian pup informed Chase, "Thanks for your help, I hope you feel better soon!"

"Mhmm," Chase mumbled, not even looking at the dally.

With that, Marshall exited the puphouse and began heading to his final witness, Ryder. As he entered the Lookout, however, he thought about Chase and his behaviour towards the end of their conversation. The fire pup knew that with a tragedy as painful as death, along came foreign emotions from pups or people that were greatly affected, but he was truly worried about Chase. Sadness was expected and though depression was possible, the pups were praying that it didn't fall upon their beloved german shepherd. Unfortunately, it seemed like that was already the case.

This added a great amount of extra incentive to find and capture this man. Not only would it provide closure for himself and the rest of the Paw Patrol, but it would hopefully revitalize Chase into his old self and get rid of his depression. Nobody liked seeing Chase in such a state, and turning that around was arguably the most important thing that would come from this, if they turned out to be successful.

Soon enough, Marshall had arrived at Ryder's door. He began to knock but as he did so, the door creaked open. The boy looked up from his desk and smiled at the dalmatian pup.

"Hi Marshall!" Ryder enthusiastically greeted Marshall, trying to spread as much positivity and joy around as possible. He walked over and scooped his pup up into his arms, scratching his back. Marshall nuzzled Ryder's cheek in appreciation, he truly needed that at the moment.

Once the pup was put back on the ground, Ryder noticed the portrait that the dalmatian was carrying.

"Whatcha got there?" the boy asked, "Is that the picture I put out downstairs?"

"Yeah… sorry for taking it Ryder," Marshall apologized, "I just wanted to ask you something about it."

"No worries Marshall, it's okay," granted Ryder. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, I noticed it when I walked into the Lookout and then something caught my attention," Marshall explained as he pointed to the man in the background.

"This man, he's staring at Swift, I think. Do you know who he is? Did you see him that day?"

Ryder grabbed the picture up off the ground, bringing it close to his face. He had quite the perplexed look on his face, leading Marshall to think that he was about to get another answer that was uniform with the rest of the pups'.

"...Yeah! I did see him that day," responded Ryder, who seemed a bit shocked at his own answer.

Marshall's eyes lit up as he comprehended his owner's words. His tail began to wag. Finally he had a lead, no matter how small it was. Every little piece that would help find this man was important.

"Where?! What happened?!" the dally frantically exclaimed.

Ryder paused as he tried his best to think back to a week ago, "Uhmmm… it was when Katie, Swift and I were bringing the ice cream back from Mr. Porter's."

"Okay… and?" Marshall asked, expecting a bit more, "Did you talk to him, or like, interact at all?"

"No, not really," answered Ryder, "he was just sitting at one of the outside tables waiting for his food. He seemed kind of out of it, to be honest, like as if he was on some kind of... substance. I don't know though…"

Disappointment momentarily fell upon the dalmatian pup as Ryder told him this. Marshall was hoping for something that would point more fingers towards this guy, but it looks as though this man was just a normal guy minding his own business at the beach that day.

Just as Marshall's hopes were about to be crushed, Ryder continued speaking.

"...but I do remember that when Swift ran over to help Katie and I with the ice cream, I noticed he was strangely staring at Chase's brother," he revealed. "However, once I gave him a funny look, he stopped."

"Really?!" Marshall's jaw dropped.

"Yeah," assured Ryder, "but I just brushed it off at the time. Like I said, I thought he was on some type of substance... Marshall, this could be huge!"

"I know!" the dally smiled, "I'm going to show Sylvia tomorrow! Hopefully the police can make some use of this information."

"Good idea," praised Ryder, "Maybe we can all eventually help if they find this suspect's name and where he lives."

"Yeah, hopefully!" Marshall agreed, "I'll ask Sylvia tomorrow if we can work something out."

"Sounds good," smiled Ryder as he bent down and pet the dalmatian pups head, "You're such a good pup, Marshall!"

"Thanks Ryder," the dally giggled, "I'll keep you posted."

After wishing each other a goodnight, Marshall headed back to his pup house, ready to go to bed. He was finally satisfied and able to sleep peacefully, knowing that they were one step closer to finding Swift's murderer.

* * *

At the Foggy Bottom Police Department, Sylvia lay in her cage fast asleep, appearing to be quite tranquil. However, this was far from the truth; within her mind were scary, unsettling thoughts which she could do nothing about. Ever since responding to the call where they discovered Chase's deceased brother, the female german shepherd pup wasn't able to sleep well. Haunting images of the pup's body, along with the ear-piercing cries coming from Chase plagued her mind throughout each night.

As if her slumbers couldn't get any worse, Sylvia was rudely awakened by her handler as he banged his fist on the door of the cage, causing a loud racket.

"Wake up time!" Sgt. Ace shouted at his police pup.

The shepherd's eyes shot wide open as she scrambled to get herself up and focus. Whenever the Head Investigator would wake her up early, it usually meant that there was a call to report to. After a shake of the head to get rid of any lingering tiredness, Syl hopped out of her cage and sat at the sergeant's feet.

"Sylvia, reporting for duty Sgt. Ace!" she declared.

"Don't knock yourself out, it's no mission," the unpleasant man rolled his eyes. "You have a visitor in the lobby."

"Oh, sorry Sgt. Ace," she apologized, feeling kind of belittled.

Sgt. Ace simply turned to head back to his office before the female german shepherd pup stopped him. She simply couldn't take anymore sleepless nights. She had to know how the pursuit on Chase's attacker was going.

"Wait, Sgt. Ace!" Sylvia halted him. "Did you guys find anything out about the man who killed Swift in Adventure Bay?"

"Huh..? You mean that pup?" the Sergeant raised an eyebrow, "Why would we?"

"What do you mean?!" the police pup exclaimed in shock. "He was murdered! We have to find the man responsible and punish him!"

"Listen Syl, we have more important cases, _real_ cases, to worry about at the moment," he informed the pup.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the pup snapped back.

"For God's sake Sylvia, it's a _pup_ for crying out loud," the man shouted. "It's not like it was a human. In that case we would pursue the man, end of story."

The police pup just sat there as her handler walked out of the room, aghast at what she had just heard. Never had she felt such injustice in her entire life. Just because he was a pup, didn't mean his life was any less valuable. However, apparently to some people this was true.

"This isn't fair!" she protested to herself.

With anger building up inside of her, Sylvia decided to take it out by swinging her paw forcefully at the door of her cage, projecting a loud crashing sound similar to the one that woke her up. She instantly regretted it though, as the angry pup placed her now throbbing paw into her mouth in an attempt to ease the pain.

That was one thing that made Sylvia a great police pup. Her anger and passion for bringing justice upon horrible deeds resulted in great success. This behaviour in particular was merely an example of the minor, negative effects of those traits.

Remembering what Sgt. Ace had originally woken her up for, the german shepherd quickly composed herself and headed out to the station's lobby. Her glum mood would quickly transform into a surprised and gleeful one once she saw Marshall patiently waiting in one of the lobby chairs.

"Marshall!" Sylvia smiled.

"Hi Sylvia!" the dally exclaimed, "Boy do I have good news."

"I wish I could say the same…" the police pup mumbled under her breath. "What is it?"

The dalmatian pup proudly whipped out the picture of the Paw Patrol on beach day and show it to her, feeling quite accomplished of himself for his detective work.

"I think I may have found the man who killed Swift," he boldly proclaimed, pointing out the strange man in the background. "Look at how he's staring at him! I talked to Ryder too and they saw this guy at Mr. Porter's. The man was eyeing down Swift when they were there too."

"Hmmm…" the german shepherd analyzed the photo, taking into consideration Ryder's account.

"It's quite compelling," she admitted. "That logo on his sweater… that's the Foggy Bottom University logo!"

"Syl, you're a GENIUS!" the dally praised, as his tail began to wag rapidly. "Now we can tell the police where to look for him!"

However, before his hopes became too high, Sylvia broke the heartbreaking news to him.

"Well…" she hesitated, "..that most likely won't happen…"

Marshall's smile was immediately wiped from his face. All of the excitement and happiness that came along with potentially punishing the man who ruined Chase's life was completely diminished. The fire pup was almost at a loss for words.

"Wha— But…" he stammered, "Why?!"

Sylvia sighed, remembering her handler's cruel, unjust words.

"My handler, Sgt. Ace, who is also the Head Investigator and Prosecutor said that he didn't want to waste his time on a case like this," she explained, "apparently pup lives aren't as important as human lives."

The dally's jaw dropped, "He _actually_ said that?"

The police pup nodded in dismay.

"It's just not fair," she reiterated, "especially to Chase."

While it seemed like Sylvia wasn't sure what to do next, Marshall wasn't going to give up.

"Let's do this ourselves then," the dalmatian confidently suggested.

Sylvia looked up at him, raising an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"Let's go find this guy ourselves and turn him in," Marshall elaborated. "If the police don't want to take things into their hands, then we can. I don't care whether it's important to them, it's important to me, the Paw Patrol, and especially Chase."

"I dunno Marshall…" the police pup pondered, "That would mean breaking a lot of rules…"

"Come on Syl," the fire pup persuaded, "you said it yourself: it's not fair to Chase if we let this guy run free. We know he goes to Foggy Bottom University, so we can go there under the radar and try to obtain enough information that will get him convicted."

The female german shepherd glared at Marshall, still debating whether or not she should go against her orders. That's when the dally fell to the ground and started begging with convincing puppy eyes.

"Please Sylvia! It'll be worth it, I promise!" he pleaded.

"Oh, _fine!_ " she finally gave in.

"YES!" Marshall cheered. "I'll tell everyone back at the Lookout, Ryder said he's willing to help any way he can!"

"Whooaaa, slow down there partner," Sylvia commanded, "This has to be super low key. I know this technically involves all of them, but until we have enough evidence, nobody can know that we're sneaking around trying to find this guy. My job is potentially at stake.

"Plus, Chase can't really be involved in this… since he's directly related to the victim and there's emotional ties, he's seen as biased in the court of law. Anything he tries to contribute is automatically dismissible. As for Ryder and the rest of the pups, it's probably fine, but like I said, we should really wait to involve them."

"Understood," obeyed Marshall, respecting Sylvia's knowledge and job. "So, what's the plan then?"

"I'm thinking we have to start at the University, and as soon as possible," she suggested. "The best time to go would probably be the weekend, when nobody's around. It _is_ summer, but staff still works on weekdays and some students take classes during the summer."

"Well, today's Friday," Marshall pointed out, "Is tomorrow fine?"

"Tomorrow it is," the police pup nodded. "Plus, I don't work on weekends."

"Perfect," smiled Marshall.

"Meet me here, outside the station, tomorrow at noon," she ordered, "We'll go from there."

"Sounds good," he compiled. The dally's grin was nearly spreading off his face. He was so grateful that despite the actual police not doing anything, Sylvia was willing to potentially sacrifice her occupation to help him, and more importantly Chase. The only thing Marshall wanted in the entire world at the moment was the old Chase to come back, hopefully restoring the peaceful life the Paw Patrol once had. This was essentially the way to achieve that.

"Thank you so, so much Syl," the dalmatian pup brought the female german shepherd into a hug.

Syl smiled and embraced the grateful fire pup.

"I was there when all of this happened, I saw the devastation on your faces," she explained, "I know how much this means to you guys. Of course I was gonna help."

"It really does mean a lot," Marshall smiled again as they broke the hug. He began to make his way out of the station. "I'll see you tomorrow," he winked.

Sylvia simply giggled, before making her way back to her cage.

* * *

 **And so it begins, the journey to find Swift's killer! Let me tell you, it is going to be _quite_ the journey. REMEMBER, this is now all taking place three years prior to the present. Just want to avoid confusion. Thanks for reading! Until next time :)**

 **~SwarmX**


	7. Identity

**Well... it's been a while...**

 **A lot of you probably thought I was done with writing, and that I would just leave this story** **unfinished and collect dust. Not going to lie, even I thought I was going to be done with writing. But I think all I needed was a break. I invested a lot of time into this site over the past few years and it started getting repetitive and almost not really fun anymore. But after a while I started to miss it and I knew I couldn't break my promise and leave this story unfinished. So here I am, back to give you a long awaited Chapter 6. As I've said before I am going to finish this story. Beyond that, I'm not too sure what I plan on doing, but regardless, I won't leave you guys in the dark like I did for the past few months. So I am very sorry for that.**

 **Anyway, enough of me rambling.**

 **In the previous chapter, Marshall came across a shocking discovery that may have lead them to a suspect. After consulting Sylvia, the two of them somewhat hesitantly devised a mischievous plan to try and find more information on this man. However, will their ploy work? Continue reading to find out ;)**

 ****As it's been a while, it may be a good idea to reread some chapters and just refresh your memories on what's going on. I know I had to.. heh... Again, my apologies.***

* * *

"Hey Marshall," greeted Ryder as he exited the Lookout. It was the next day, and the boy caught the dalmatian just as he was pulling his fire truck out of his spot. "Where are you off to this early?"

It was half past eleven, and normally the pups and Ryder would never consider that to be an early time. However, sleep had been a struggle for the entire team over the past week, given their current situation, and the pups recently began waking up around noon.

"Oh, I'm just meeting up with Sylvia to—" Marshall paused, realizing Ryder wouldn't necessarily approve of their plan, "...talk about finding the man in the photo."

"Okay," nodded Ryder, "Let me know any progress you guys make. Hopefully it will be enough to revitalize the pups…"

"Sure thing, Ryder," promised Marshall, "I'm going to hunt this guy down if it's the last thing I do."

And so, the dalmatian pup headed off on his journey to Foggy Bottom, where he and Sylvia were planning to risk it all in an attempt to gain more information on this suspicious man. The dally wasn't worried about anything, nor was he having second thoughts about what they were going to do. His main priority was to obtain justice by punishing the man who brought so much pain upon the Paw Patrol, hopefully bringing peace among Chase's life as well. If achieving that meant trespassing on University property, then so be it.

Sylvia on the other hand was much more anxious about the whole situation. The german shepherd paced in circles outside of the police station, patiently awaiting Marshall's arrival. Sure, she wanted to arrest the man responsible for killing Chase's brother, but her job was one of the only things she had and she loved it. The last thing she wanted to do was throw it all away. At the same time though, she also wanted to rebel against her ignorant handler, showing him that pup lives aren't any less valuable than human lives.

In the midst of her thoughts, she saw Marshall round the corner of a nearby intersection. Sylvia let out a deep breath, mentally preparing for their plan, and then hopped into her police cruiser. The fire pup pulled up next to her just as the clock struck twelve.

"You ready?" he asked her.

Sylvia simply nodded in response, still somewhat ashamed that she was breaking the rules behind her authorities' back.

"Well then, lead the way!" requested Marshall who was motivated as ever to start investigating.

The two pups made their way down the main road of downtown Foggy Bottom. As they drove through the crowded streets, the gravity of this whole situation seemed to dawn onto Marshall. He looked left and right; all that was there were people, hundreds of them. How on Earth were they going to find one guy in such a densely populated city? However, the dally quickly brushed these thoughts aside. Remaining positive in a scenario like this was key to success, and the fire pup would do anything to fix the broken Paw Patrol.

After a few minutes of driving, the tall, brick-walled, university office building came into view and nerves began to run through the pups' veins. They didn't really know what to expect at this point; things could either go really swell or they could take a turn for the worst.

The pair parked about a block off site in an attempt to avoid drawing any attention towards them, and slowly walked up to the giant building. They almost pointlessly tried the front door, knowing it would be locked, and so it was.

"Shoot," cursed Marshall, "Now what are we supposed to do?"

"We can try one of the windows," Sylvia suggested, "We got a call from here once when a raccoon climbed into one of the windows and began causing a ruckus. Hopefully they didn't learn their lesson and left one open."

Marshall nodded and followed the police pup as they scaled the base of the building as unsuspiciously as they possibly could on a Saturday afternoon during closed hours. Once they reached the rear of the building and were out of the public's view, for the most part, they had found what they were looking for.

About four feet off the ground was a slightly open casement window, presumably ajar to allow a refreshing breeze to enter the hot, humid building.

"Jackpot," Sylvia smiled, indicating the open window to Marshall.

The dally fist-pumped and jogged over to their alternate entrance along with the german shepherd. Although they seemed to be blessed enough with a way inside the building, the height factor was still an issue.

"Okay, so I used to do a lot of training before I became Head Investigator, including jumping," explained Syl, "I should be able to make that jump alone. Do you want a boost?"

"Please and thank you," Marshall conceded, knowing that there was no way he would be able to jump that high.

Sylvia made her way to the base of the building and stood tall and firm, allowing Marshall to climb on top of her body and hoist himself up into the window, opening it even more. Despite the police pup trying to make it easy for him, the dally didn't fail to perform this task with his trademark clumsiness.

"Ouch! Watch your paws!" Sylvia groaned and held her snout, as Marshall forcefully stepped on it.

"Sorry!" the dalmatian apologized as he jumped through the window. However, the dally's entrance was followed by a series of crashes and the sound of things toppling over. The female german shepherd pup cringed at the loud, painful noises, but not long before Marshall spoke again.

"I'm okay," the dally informed as he shook himself off from the fall.

Moments later, the fire pup watched as the police pup gracefully leapt through the window and stuck the landing perfectly, not making a sound.

"Marshall! We're supposed to be being _stealthy_ ," Sylvia rolled her eyes.

"Heh, sorry…" he innocently shrugged, "I guess stealthiness isn't my strongest trait..."

The german shepherd chuckled slightly and waved him over.

"Alright, let's go and look around for clues," she ordered. "Who knows how much time we have."

The determined and obedient dalmatian listened, following his partner in crime into the hallway. As they entered the eerily silent wing, Marshall and Sylvia began to look for anything that could potentially be a lead, while also trying to cause the least amount of disturbance possible. Their journey down the lengthy halls was relatively uneventful until they reached the end. There stood the entrance to the library.

"Follow me," Syl instructed the dally as she entered the library, "I have an idea."

"If you say so," Marshall shrugged.

The police pup lead the dalmatian pup, walking past many long shelves of books dedicated to different genres. It was almost like a labyrinth in there.

"Horror, Adventure, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Non-Fiction…" Sylvia mumbled to herself as she scanned through the maze of books.

"Aha! School Relics!" she cheered.

"What's a _relic_?" Marshall cocked his head at the german shepherd.

"It's basically some historical object," Sylvia explained as she flipped through some of the books on the shelves.

"Well, why would we need to look at these?" Marshall continued to question.

Just as the dally finished his sentence, Sylvia pulled out just the book she was looking for, rendering a satisfied grin.

"For this!" she declared, holding up the book to show the fire pup. "Last semester's yearbook!"

"Ohhh," Marshall slowly began to catch on, "this way we can find his picture and name!"

"You bet!" the investigator pup smiled. "Hopefully we can find out some more information too."

"Wow," exclaimed an impressed dalmatian, "I can see why they made you Head Investigator."

"It's what I do," Sylvia replied with a smirk and a shrug.

As the pair began flipping through the pages, they soon reached the section of the book which displayed pictures of all the students attending the university, along with their full names. Last years graduates were placed first and they included a quote from each person. Judging by the picture that they had from their beach day, their suspect seemed old enough to fit into that category.

Starting from ' _A'_ , Marshall and Sylvia carefully analyzed the alphabetically ordered photos, keeping their eyes out for one person in particular. It wasn't until they got down to the ' _M'_ s when they hit the jackpot.

"There!" Marshall shouted, instantly reacting once spotting the familiar face.

"SHHH!" Sylvia put a paw to her mouth, reiterating that they were supposed to be as stealthy as possible. The dalmatian pup mouthed an innocent apology as they looked back towards the page.

"Cliff Meyers," the german shepherd mumbled to herself, "interesting."

"Look at his quote," Marshall directed her attention, "It says, ' _Soccer is life.'_ "

"Hmmm," Sylvia rubbed her paw on her chin, "let's look at the sports section! Maybe he's in there too."

"Good call," complemented Marshall.

Unfortunately, as they flipped through that section, specifically the soccer related pages, their lucked turned sour. This 'Cliff' guy was nowhere to be seen.

"Darn it," cursed Sylvia, "I guess he's just a fan."

"Oh well, at least we know his name... and that he likes soccer," Marshall shrugged. "Where should we look next?"

"Ehh, I'm not sure we'll find any more information on him to be honest," the german shepherd spoke truthfully, "Besides, I don't want to overstay our visit here and get caught."

"Yeah, you have a good point," agreed Marshall.

"I'm going to take this though," she said as she closed the yearbook, "it might be important to have."

"You're going to… s-steal it?" Marshall stuttered, as he was somewhat and rightfully uncomfortable with the idea of taking part in theft.

"Technically… no," answered Syl. "It's in a library, so it's considered a library book. We're just… _checking it out_ for a little bit and then I'll pop it in the return box when we're done with it."

"Well… I can't really argue with that," the dally chuckled, "Besides, I can get behind anything to help find this culprit and lock him up for good. Especially if it means helping Chase."

"Exactly," agreed Sylvia, "Now, let's get out of here!"

Without hesitation, the shepherd and dalmatian jogged back to the room where they entered, still remaining as silent as possible. Once they reached the window, however, Sylvia stopped dead in her tracks, causing Marshall bump into her.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" questioned Marshall with a perplexed look on his face.

"Do you hear that?" she whispered back to him, perking her ears. "Listen."

The fire pup obeyed and stood there quietly, attempting to detect whatever noise his partner-in-crime was hearing. She was right. There was a constant, faint buzzing sound that could barely be heard in the background, almost sounding like some kind of motor. It not only struck a sense of confusion between the two pups, but also a sense of worry.

"What _is_ that?" the dally asked.

"I'm not sure…" Sylvia pondered, "Do you think it's coming from somewhere inside the building?"

"I don't want to wait to find out," Marshall voiced, not wanting to get caught for sneaking into the University.

The german shepherd nodded in agreement as they both hopped up onto a desk that was against the wall. Right in front of them was the open window; their _escape_ route. The trespassing pups victoriously leaped out of the window and tumbled onto the ground, successfully completing their mission. However, they weren't just finished yet.

As Marshall and Sylvia hit the grass, the buzzing sound amplified, forcing looks of dread upon both of them. Simultaneously, the pups turned to their right only to see what must have been the groundskeeper mowing the University's lawn.

"Uh-oh…" they gulped.

The dally and shepherd got up as fast as they could, trying to make a hasty exit, but not before the groundskeeper could spot them. He quickly turned off the lawnmower and ripped off his earmuffs, allowing enough silence for his shouts to be audible.

"Hey! What were you two doing in there!?" he yelled.

Unsure of what to do, Marshall and Sylvia looked at each other, and then bolted in the direction opposite of the groundskeeper. They could hear the man's running footsteps follow behind them, but luckily they were getting fainter the further they travelled. The pups' running and stamina drills that they practiced in training seemed to come in handy after all.

The dalmatian briefly looked back toward the University as they rounded the corner to the street they parked on, to see the man standing still on the front lawn, hips on hands.

"I think we're safe for now," Marshall said, panting, as he and the police pup started to slow down.

"Thank God," Sylvia sighed in relief, "That was a close one."

"You still have the yearbook?" asked the dally.

"In mint condition," the shepherd grinned.

"Perfect," he smiled back. "Do you think this is strong enough lead? Like, should I inform the rest of the Paw Patrol?"

"Well…" the police pup pondered, "..we can inform them of what we've found so far, but I'd wait for them to actually get involved. It's still relatively early, and we still _technically_ don't know if this guy is guilty."

"Fair enough," compiled Marshall. "Let's take it to them now, before that groundskeeper comes back."

"Good call," nodded Sylvia.

With no hesitation, the duo hopped into their respective cars and zoomed out of that neighbourhood, determined to solve this case as quickly as possible.

* * *

Ryder gently rubbed his hand through a certain cockapoo's soft fur, as the troubled pup lay on her owner's lap, sobbing. The two of them, along with Rocky who was on the other side of the couch, simply sat together in the lounging area, attempting to cheer up the flying pup.

Throughout the past two weeks, the boy had gotten used to comforting his pups in this sort of manner, as it was a common occurrence that they would come to him in distress. Days went by and slowly, most of the pups came to terms with the situation and were eventually able to contain themselves.

However, apart from Chase himself, who rather displayed depression as opposed to tears, Skye seemed to be the only one left who couldn't accept what had happened. At this point, it wasn't even Swift's death that was causing her so much grief. They all loved Swift, despite only meeting him briefly, and they would mourn his death forever. But the aviation pup was now mostly upset about Chase's new behaviour.

All these years of adoring everything the german shepherd did, whether it was looking up to him or drooling over him, in the end it all led to nothing. Those brave, talented, athletic traits that he always presented were seemingly gone. In addition, she couldn't enjoy the fact that they had finally opened up to each other because the police pup no longer showed any emotion, not even sadness. He still loved her very, very much but simply couldn't show it due to this plague of depression constantly surrounding him.

Skye was even more worried for Chase's sake, which was the reason for Rocky being present with them too. While the cockapoo was much more emotional and in need of comfort when coming to Ryder, the mixed breed tagged along as a voice of reason. He wanted to inform their owner of this worrying, depressing behaviour since he was also very concerned for the shepherd's health, as were all the pups.

No sooner after Skye started crying, she began venting.

"...I just can't stand seeing him like this," she sniffed, wiping tears from her eyes. "I get that he's going to need a lot more time to recover from this than us, but it just seems like things are just getting worse and worse…"

Ryder continued stroking the crying pup's back as he shot a glance over to his environmental pup. Rocky exchanged a very concerned look, even giving Ryder a nod to confirm Skye's claims.

"I don't want him to be depressed forever…" she continued sobbing, "...I miss the old Chase. The one that wasn't afraid of anything… the one that encouraged all of us to do our best… the one that could always put a smile on our faces... "

"I miss the Chase I fell in love with..."

With that statement, the cockapoo went into a deeper cry as Ryder pulled her into a hug, which Rocky quickly joined. The two males continued to hold the cockapoo tight, as she let her emotions rain down upon them.

Although Skye may have lost the pup that meant the most to her, she sure was glad to have the others to comfort her when she needed them most.

Moments went by of the two pups and Ryder embracing each other, and eventually the aviation pup began to calm down. The trio were still in the middle of group hug when they were interrupted by the smooth, glossy opening of the Lookout's sliding glass doors.

In came Marshall and Sylvia, seemingly more motivated and vibrant than usual. The latter pup had something in her mouth, causing Ryder to get his hopes up. The mysterious book held in the shepherd's jaws along with their positive vibes gave the boy the impression that good news was to come.

The trio's hug ended prematurely as Rocked cocked his head slightly and Skye stopped crying. Marshall and Sylvia hopped up onto the couch with their tails wagging as the police pup spat out the book in front of them.

Minding the dog slobber, Ryder picked it up and read the title out loud.

"Foggy Bottom University Yearbook 2015," he gave a perplexed look. "What about it?"

Skye and Rocky also exchanged confused looks as their owner questioned the pups.

"Go to the graduate pictures," instructed Sylvia, "Last names beginning with 'M'. You may see someone.. _familiar_."

Ryder opened up the book, finding their beach day picture lodged in there between the pages. Slightly puzzled at first, the boy began scanning over each grad picture, looking for someone he would apparently recognize. And to his surprise, the female german shepherd was correct.

"Oh my gosh!" Ryder gasped.

This caused the other two pups to become concerned.

"What is it, Ryder?" asked Rocky as he and Skye got up to look at the picture.

"This guy, _Cliff Meyers_ ," he read, "he's the man in the back of our beach day picture… the one staring at Chase."

"Precisely," Sylvia confirmed.

"Now we have a lead to build off of," Marshall enthusiastically grinned, relieved that they were finally getting somewhere with this case.

"So... _he's_ the one who… you know..." Rocky's voice trailed off, not wanting to finish the disturbing sentence. The other pups understood him anyway.

"We can't be sure yet," the female police pup informed them, "Marshall and I are going to do a bit more detective work before we fully commit ourselves to this guy."

"Smart thinking pups," Ryder complimented, "you guys have done a pretty good job so far by the looks of things."

The two pups blushed at Ryder's praise but the mood was soon switched as the boy read the small writing on the cover of the yearbook.

 _Property of Foggy Bottom University._

"Speaking of detective work, how did you guys exactly get a hold of this?" the boy raised an eyebrow at the pups.

The dalmatian and shepherd both looked at each other in a slight panic. They didn't quite expect nor prepare for this to happen.

Luckily for Marshall and Sylvia, the sliding noise of the Lookout doors interrupted the conversation again. However, it was the pup they least expected who walked through the doors and was headed towards them. Of all times for him to come in and visit with the other's, it just had to be now, at the worst possible time. Every person in the room held their breath as they directed their attention to Chase and welcomed him into the room.

"Hey Chase! How's it going buddy?" Ryder cheerfully greeted.

The German Shepherd simply kept his straight, emotionless face and shrugged; not quite the response everyone was hoping for.

Almost instantly, Chase darted an intimidating look towards Marshall and abruptly changed the subject.

"So, is he the guy?" He bluntly questioned.

Despite the vagueness in Chase's question, Marshall knew exactly what he meant; he was referring to the man in the photo which the dally previously inquired about. But that didn't stop Marshall from playing dumb. He, along with the others, didn't want to get the shepherd's hopes up and potentially cause him more grief. Plus, keeping Chase caught up in this situation was only making him worse.

"Heh, what are you talkin' about?" The fire pup nervously chuckled.

All Chase did was raise an eyebrow, and Marshall knew he was onto him. The police pup was no dummy. He caught a whiff of Sylvia's scent as she walked by the pup houses when she arrived and he knew exactly why she was here. Hence the German shepherd was stood in front of all of them wanting answers.

"Oh, right, the man in the photo," Marshall pretended to realize, "well, uh..."

"We don't know yet," Sylvia intervened, "all we have is the picture of your guys' beach day."

On cue with Sylvia's lie, although Marshall hated lyingl, he stepped over the university yearbook he had to try and keep it hidden. Unfortunately, Chase noticed this and was beginning to catch on.

"Whatcha got there Marshall?" Chase intimidatingly asked.

Once again, Marshall was at a loss for what to say. His brain was telling him to do one thing, which was to lie and divert Chase's attention away from it, but his heart was telling him to be truthful to his best friend.

 _How could something feel so wrong but so right at the same time?_ The Dalmatian pup thought to himself as his face went red. As a result, Marshall did what he is best at: stalling.

"Oh... _this_ old thing?" He attempted to buy time, "ehhh it's nothing..."

"Can I see it then?" Chase asked, almost demandingly.

Suddenly, Sylvia interrupted once again.

"Chase, I know you want to see, but we can't really have anybody tampering with the evidence," she explained, "besides, as a family member, anything that you involve yourself with regarding Swift's case can be dismissible in court. You know that."

"Yeah Chase," Marshall chimed in, "It's probably for the best."

"I just wanna see it..." Chase continued on innocently, still displaying little to no emotion, "...he was _my_ brother."

For the third time, Marshall didn't know what to say, and this time even Sylvia was stumped. The police pup played the emotional card. All of the other pups exchanged unsure looks as an awkward silence was left in the air after the German shepherd's statement.

With seemingly nothing else to give, the fire pup hung his head and sighed as he handed over the yearbook to Chase.

The others lowered their heads in defeat as well, disappointed but also cognizant of the fact that they would've done the same thing if they were in Marshall's paws. With nothing left to lose, they all just quietly watched Chase.

The German Shepherd opened the book directly onto the bookmarked page that contained Cliff's graduation picture. He analyzed the beach day photo and the dozens of pictures, slowly putting together all the pieces that Marshal and Sylvia had done before.

Looking at the man, who he now knew the name of, was beginning to get to the police pup. Anger caused him to clench his paws, slightly crumbling the paper pages. However, Chase contained it for the most part, before it turned to sadness which was evident by the tears he refused to let flow from his eyes.

Everybody else in the room expected him to break down in front of them and they were ready to be comforting. But instead, the shepherd swallowed hard and held it in, producing a cold glare towards the rest.

"Just find him..." Chase faintly growled, "...and punish him for what he did.

"Make him suffer."

With that, Chase tossed the book back to Marshall and headed out of the Lookout and towards his pup house.

That was a side of Chase that the Paw Patrol had never seen, and it's what they were fearing. They were all left shell shocked in another period of silence, as everybody processed what just happened.

Getting involved and mixed up in this whole situation was ruining the police pup bit by bit. Of course they agreed with him, in the sense that Cliff should be properly punished, but the way Chase put it was just so merciless and unlike him to say the least.

For a certain pup, it was too much to handle. As the Lookout doors shut, leaving Chase behind, Skye looked down and began lightly sobbing once again. Rocky quickly walked over and gave her a friendly hug.

"He's completely broken," the cockapoo wept, "not even you can fix him, Rocky. And you can fix everything."

"Well I'm flattered," Rocky chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

"But I'm worried too, he's gone beyond depressed," the mixed breed added a serious note, "it's getting worse and worse."

"I know it looks bad pups, but there's a solution to everything," Ryder tried to encourage his pups, as it was his job.

"Yeah, I know the real Chase is deep down there somewhere," Marshall tried to motivate them.

"I think there's only one thing that can fix him," Sylvia proposed, "and that's to find this Cliff guy."

"Please do it!" Skye begged with tears in her eyes. "I want— ...I _need_ the old Chase back."

"Yeah you two," Ryder directed his attention to Marshall and Sylvia, "You've done an excellent job so far."

The two pups blushed at the compliment. Praise coming from such a smart and handy guy like Ryder was something to be very proud of, and it added extra motivation.

"This is far from over yet," informed Sylvia, "But we'll do everything we can."

"We will restore Chase back to his old self if it's the last thing we do," Marshall declared, "I promise."

The female police pup nodded in agreement and gave a friendly smile that was contagious to everyone, even Skye.

With Marshall and Sylvia's detective work, along with everyone else's love and support, they truly believed that they could find the man responsible and bring back the confident, happy, german shepherd that left them a week ago.

* * *

 **Success! Not only did Marshall and Syl not get caught, but their plan was actually worth-wile and got them some valuable information. What they do next with it, however, will be interesting to see.**

 **Disclaimer: It's exam season for Uni, so probably don't expect me to upload much (or at all) until Christmas break. During that break I will grind and try to get as much done as possible and then regularly upload chapters. Bare with me lol, school is pretty rough, as you can imagine.**

 **~SwarmX**


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